SUSTAINABILITY OF EXTENSIVE SHEEP FARMING PRACTICES: PASTORALISM AND TRADITIONAL USE OF MEDICINAL PLANTS, CASE STUDY ON THE MĂRGINIMEA SIBIULUI AREA, ROMANIA - M. Stanciu; I. Antonie; C. Danciu; A. Tulbure; I. Bratu; E. Gaspar; G. Moise; C. Sava; I. Vlad (Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 2023)
The main purpose of the paper is to highlight the millennial tradition of large-scale sheep husbandry in Romania (transhumance practices from the past) by adapting technologies, to preserve this extensive system, even nowadays.The second aim of the paper is to identify the medicinal plants used by shepherds as part of extensive sheep farming. The phytogeographical resources underlying the development of the pastoral landscape are natural pastures and hayfields. Their floristic composition includes numerous plant species with a beneficial role for the health and wellbeing of sheep. The research was conducted in the “Mărginimea Sibiului” area (Sibiu County), Romania, in the period 2016-2020. The employed methodology is complex and it is based, on the one hand, on the study and analysis of bibliographic resources and, on the other hand, on site visits to representative pastoral villages and interviews with shepherds who practised transhumance in the past. Data was collected from local and national authorities. Classical or traditional transhumance represents the seasonal movement of shepherds with sheep herds from the mountains to the plains in the autumn (from the 1st of October to the 1st of April) and back, in the spring, until the end of summer. It involves the movement of large herds (generally between 500 and 2000 head) of Ţurcana breed sheep, over distances between 100 and 500 km. The commute between the mountains and the plains is necessary in order to make efficient use of all available forage resources. The findings include the following: the number of sheep in Romania varied from 18,000 thousand head in 1985, to 14,062 thousand head in 1990, with the lowest value in 2001 (7,251 thousand head). After Romania joined the EU, the number increased, reaching 10,281 thousand head in 2020 (16.8% of the EU population). The distribution of sheep breeds in the country is the consequence of the shepherds’ long-term experience, being closely related to the landscape conditions and the pedoclimatic characteristics. In the areas with large herds of sheep, pastoral villages were formed, grouped into 4 main centres, as well as centres derived from them (in the south-eastern part of the country, namely Dobrogea, and in counties located in the western area). Regarding the use of medicinal plants from the spontaneous flora for animals, it can be stated that the literature cites 49 plant species identified in the area. Of these, only 33 plant species, belonging to 21 families, are used on sheep breeds.
Keywords: journal article; extensive farming; sheep husbandry; traditions; transhumance