Resumen

CARO, Jesús et al. Sheep farming and alternative uses of land in Southern Patagonia, Argentina. Multequina [online]. 2017, vol.26, n.1, pp.33-50. ISSN 1852-7329.

The sheep livestock sector is going through an important crisis in Argentine Patagonia, which has been magnified by reduced pasture productivity caused by a lasting history of overgrazing. Farmers were interviewed in order to assess their knowledge and attitudes towards adopting additional, potentially more sustainable activities complementary to livestock farming that would help to mitigate income losses and land abandonment. Tourism and consumptive uses of wildlife were the preferred options by the respondents. However, only half of farmers would be willing to reduce sheep stocking density even if economic reward from complementary uses of wildlife exceed losses due to overgrazing. This casts some doubts on the potential conservation benefits for Patagonian shrub-steppe ecosystems of exploiting populations of wild species or other complementary activities.

Palabras clave : Surveys; Ranches; Rural tourism; Sustainable activities; Patagonian shrubsteppe.

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