Green Assets of Equines in the European Context of the Ecological Transition of Agriculture

Abstract

Despite the decline of equine populations in the middle of the 20th century, the European horse industry is growing again thanks to economic alternatives found in the diversification of the uses of equines (sports, racing, leisure, etc.). Equines have many environmental advantages, but the fragmentation of the sector and the lack of synthetic knowledge about their environmental impacts do not enable the promotion of these assets and their effective inclusion in management practices and European policies. To highlight the equine environmental impacts, a literature review was carried out to cover the main European stakes. This work led to the identification of five “green assets”, fields where equines show unique environmental advantages compared to other agricultural productions. These green assets are linked to the nature of equines (grazing and domestic biodiversity), to their geographical distribution (land use), and to their use by human beings (tourism and work). Today, when searching for sustainable solutions to modern environmental issues, the use of equines is a neglected green alternative. Better knowledge and use of equine green assets could partly respond to more ecological agricultural needs and contribute to the development of this animal industry, which has a place in regional development and in Europe’s sustainable transition.

Equine Milk Production and Valorization of Marginal Areas—A Review

“…However, besides labor, feeding, housing, and milking facilities, the evaluation of costs should also include those related to availability of infrastructures on pastures and marginal areas, and social costs of labor and bureaucracy, whose incidence can be relevant and different among countries [92]. Moreover, among the immaterial benefits, the impact of the dairy equine enterprise to environmental issues, such as landscape safeguard and biodiversity preservation, should also be included in a costs-to-benefits ratio evaluation [117], as also reported for horses used for tourism and work [3]. Alternatively, a price premium, based on environmental standards and labels, should be recognized to the products of the dairy equine enterprise.…”

“…Equine breeding represents one of the most promising activities in rural development, which is considered a key strategy for restructuring the agriculture sector by means of diversification and innovation [1]. The equine species are involved not only in activities concerning their use for work and tourism, but also in niche activities related to the production of food and non-food products [2,3]. The high versatility of the equine species represents a strong argument for the conservation of endangered equine breeds and populations [4,5].…”

Construction of Evaluation Indexes for the Integrated Development of Leisure Agriculture Management: The Application of Delphi Technology

“…Among the 21 factors for the evaluation index for the integrated development of leisure agricultural areas, the top five ranking evaluation criteria that experts and scholars value most are "enterprise structure and implementation of division of labor" (5) and "environmental maintenance Overall Environment Construction" (5), followed by "Inventory of Local Industry Resources" (4.8), "Use of Local Industry Resources" (4.8), and "Promote Employment" (4.8).…”

“…The management facet is based on the resources at the time of the operation. It is considered from the externally available resources and the conditions of its ownership, including the four main items of the business entity, land attributes, resource characteristics, and professional functions [5].…”

Donkeys in transition

“…Technological improvements and motorization of agriculture occurring during the 20 th century in Europe, together with the rural exodus of people, greatly reduced the need for equids as animals of draft and burden, leading to a drastic reduction in donkey and mule numbers (Rzekęć et al, 2020). This process was somewhat slower in the southern and eastern European countries due to later industrialization, but these regions soon followed the European trend, particularly in the last three decades (Colli et al, 2013).…”