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Alpine Lambs Project on Hauser Kaibling
By driving up over 700 sheep to the higher mountain pastures on Hauser Kaibling the sheep breeding association together with Hauser Kaibling Cableways is bringing innovative ideas to the field of landscape conservation:
Sheep farming presides over a long tradition in Austria, and of course, in the District of Liezen. Sheep have always been a dominant feature of the region’s mountain pastures. However, due to the declining number of farms, constantly rising costs and a lack of farm workers, the mountain pastures are increasingly remaining uncultivated. As a result, the pastures are gradually becoming “overgrown”: dwarf shrubs, bushes and trees have begun to emerge. Global warming is also contributing to the problem – the tree line is creeping inexorably upwards.
To counter this development, the Styrian Association of Sheep Breeders has teamed up with various partners such as the Haus im Ennstal local authority, Hauser Kaibling cableways, the learning and research centre at Raumberg-Gumpenstein and also the agrarian district authority in Stainach to plan an Alpine Lambs Project on Hauser Kaibling.
The learning and research centre at Raumberg-Gumpenstein is conducting a scientific investigation of this herd. In particular, the study is looking into how mountain grazing effects the plant population and animal productivity (weight increase and meat quality, etc.).
A crucial aspect is also the benefit which this project brings to tourism – and the Haus im Ennstal local authority has plans for a number of different activities in this regard. They include a big Alpine lamb celebration which will be staged around the stadium at the end of the Hauser Kaibling Cableway, as well as activities which will take place in the mountain pastures themselves (such as an educational sheep pasture trail). A further advantage of shepherded grazing is the opportunity it provides for consultation and agreement - and subsequently good relations - with local hunters.
The primary aim of this project is to generate a high quality product, to “maintain” mountain pastures and ski slopes by using the ecological alternative of sheep, to keep the slopes open while preserving the enormous diversity of Alpine wildlife on the mountains, to use all these features for the promotion of tourism and, last but not least, to benefit local farmers by driving sheep up to the Alpine pastures!
- Carefully managed grazing on mountainsides and pistes around Hauser Kaibling
- Scientific support by the teaching and research centre in Raumberg-Gumpenstein
- Benefits of the Alpine Lambs Project for tourism
- Professional marketing through the “Ennstal sheep farmers centre”
Sheep farming presides over a long tradition in Austria, and of course, in the District of Liezen. Sheep have always been a dominant feature of the region’s mountain pastures. However, due to the declining number of farms, constantly rising costs and a lack of farm workers, the mountain pastures are increasingly remaining uncultivated. As a result, the pastures are gradually becoming “overgrown”: dwarf shrubs, bushes and trees have begun to emerge. Global warming is also contributing to the problem – the tree line is creeping inexorably upwards.
To counter this development, the Styrian Association of Sheep Breeders has teamed up with various partners such as the Haus im Ennstal local authority, Hauser Kaibling cableways, the learning and research centre at Raumberg-Gumpenstein and also the agrarian district authority in Stainach to plan an Alpine Lambs Project on Hauser Kaibling.
A “Spa Stay” on Hauser Kaibling
Over 700 sheep are driven up to the higher pastures on Hauser Kaibling where they are managed by a married couple who are professional shepherds, and their sheepdogs. Apart from the fact that the animals feel good, grazing on the pastures (as if they were on a “spa stay”) the highly diverse composition of their feed meets the conditions for producing high quality Alpine lambs which are then organized and brought to market by the Ennstal sheep farmers’ centre.Environmentally friendly “piste maintenance”!
Since the sheep graze both on the mountain pastures and on the ski slopes of Hauser Kaibling Cableways, they provide a particularly environmentally friendly form of “piste maintenance” – thereby helping to reduce the use of heavy machines and equipment to a considerable degree.The learning and research centre at Raumberg-Gumpenstein is conducting a scientific investigation of this herd. In particular, the study is looking into how mountain grazing effects the plant population and animal productivity (weight increase and meat quality, etc.).
A crucial aspect is also the benefit which this project brings to tourism – and the Haus im Ennstal local authority has plans for a number of different activities in this regard. They include a big Alpine lamb celebration which will be staged around the stadium at the end of the Hauser Kaibling Cableway, as well as activities which will take place in the mountain pastures themselves (such as an educational sheep pasture trail). A further advantage of shepherded grazing is the opportunity it provides for consultation and agreement - and subsequently good relations - with local hunters.
The primary aim of this project is to generate a high quality product, to “maintain” mountain pastures and ski slopes by using the ecological alternative of sheep, to keep the slopes open while preserving the enormous diversity of Alpine wildlife on the mountains, to use all these features for the promotion of tourism and, last but not least, to benefit local farmers by driving sheep up to the Alpine pastures!
“Alpine lambs” on Hauser Kaibling
