Upland sheep: a curse or vital tool?

Mansfield, Lois ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-2467 (2018) Upland sheep: a curse or vital tool? In: RGS-IBG Annual International Conference: Geographical Landscapes / Changing Landscapes of Geography, 28-31 August 2018, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Sheep farming has operated in European uplands for nearly five thousand years using a range of agricultural systems. Over this time, various breeds have been produced that physiologically and behaviourally forage effectively in often harsh climatic, environmental and ecological conditions. The effects of this grazing have been a range of ecosystem services which include meat and wool production, diverse upland habitats which would not have existed without grazing animals, a cultural landscape which underpins protected area status and tourism, as well as sustaining local rural communities. Using the case study of the UK Cumbrian uplands, this paper aims to explore how and what sheep produce in terms of ecosystem services. At the same time it will critique their less desirable behavioural traits, which have caused a backlash within the general public and other polemical literature. With the launch of the DEFRA 25 year plan, the arrival of Brexit and the increased interest in re-wilding the role of sheep in uplands is once again being examined. What do upland sheep have to offer looking forward within these new institutional and ecological contexts?

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Departments:	Institute of Science and Environment > Outdoor Studies Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA)
Additional Information:	Presented as part of the Rural Geography Research Group session: 'Beyond mere signifiers: centring animals in the (re)production of rural landscapes (1) - Within the farming environment'.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	10 Apr 2019 10:35
Last Modified:	12 Jan 2024 20:30
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/4616

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