Transhumance and Alpine farming in Val Senales
Transhumance in Val Senales: "Hoi, hoi, hoi"
Since the beginning of June, shepherds and local farmers prepare their land for transhumance. This event is different from alpine farming and nomadism. Shepherds take almost 4000 sheep from Vernago and Maso Kurtzas to the high mountain pastures in September. We spent 3 weeks in the area and interviewed with shepherds of Tisenhof, Finailhof, and Raffeinhof. Two weeks before the transhumance, they increased their stone fences to protect their own sheep. They started to find their sheep to take back to their own territory of the grazing areas because Tisen valley is very narrow. Otherwise, 4000 sheep and their sheep would be the mix, even if the sheep have a circle or x symbol on their back. The preparation is well organized with the collaboration of all the shepherds.
One day before the transhumance, the Lake of Verango and it’s around are very active. Some of the shepherds also started their long journey to the snowy peaks. There is a wooden fence built by larch trees located at the entrance of Vernago. The truck carries 45 sheep from farms around Val Venosta to the Vernago and it’s carrying them 8-9 times each day. The truck chauffeur and the shepherds can speak only German, and only one shepherd (Daniel) can speak Italian. During our journey we interviewed him. We slept next to the fences and during the night and sheep were quiet, they sleep very silently.. Before the first group started at 3 am, there was silence in the mountain. The full moon was lighting on the grasslands and the reflection of the moon on the lake was brightening the valley. The first group started at 3:15 am with 1000 sheep. They were loudly and shepherds were shouting for putting all the sheep together on the route. We woke up because of the sound of sheep and we joined to second group which started at 4:30 am with 12 shepherds, shepherdesses and 3 dogs. Before the start, all shepherds assigned the task of the 7 hours journey. They knew that they should work in harmony. They opened the gate and sheep started to run, in the first corner 2 young shepherd put sheep on the transhumance path and slowy we started to walk to the high Alpine pasture. That was hard to see, that it was really hard to put them together during night. Sheep are sensitive animals to sun and warm, they prefer to graze in the evening or at night. Our task was to reach to Similaun hut before sunrise. That was magical moment that we were the part of the last 6000 years of experience. We were walking on the same ground where Ötzi and his ancestors walked. The same methods of grazing was happening even today. Walking with this consciousness on the transhumance helped us to understand shepherds’ ancestors for how they were using the landscape. After 1 hour we were passing the Tisenhof and it’s shepherd was watching us from his fence. He was be sure to not mix his sheep and the sheep of transhumance. Our first stop was just after passing the tree line. When we passed the last larch tree, we rested and during our rest site, sheep were grazing and 12 shepherd made a circle around them to put them together. The break was 20 minutes and we continued. During the journey many of the sheep were lost with their baby sheep and they didn’t wanted to move forward. Shepherds was pushing mother sheep to walk but she wasn’t moving. Then the old German shepherd found her baby and put her to her mother, then she continued to walking. Baby sheep could be lost their path easily, sometimes they lost their mother and they were crying and panicking to find their mothers. Our second break was before the last steep climb to the Similaun hut. The wind was so strong that were we struggling for walking. It was easily to see the diversification of the species in all the altitudes. Even 200 meters has many differences of species. The climate, erosion of rain and glacier, grazing routes and times, human interactions, and diversification of grazing animals and former grazing areas was shaping the soil seed banks and landscape patterns. Until tree line, Larix Decidua and Pinus Cembra was dominant type of the forest patterns and after Alpine tree line the story is different. During the journey there was many carved stones, wooden traces or abandoned steel wires. The strongest landscape element was stone walls. They were built because of the protection of livestock animals. Reading the landscape elements helps us to understand the former times grazing schedules and landscape layers. When we started to climb, the third group of sheep were visible but they were not so crowd like our group. Sheep are guiding and shepherd Daniel said ‘’they know where to go and we just follow them. Also they understand the best nutrient of grasses’’
Alpine farming and transhumance have less interaction with the landscape. The alpine farming with protected fences, the grazing is dense, but during summer months sheeps can graze on the high valley and inside the forest. In the transhumance the grazing is happening on the controlled path with many sheeps every year. These two type of grazing areas has different species, seed bank and grazing patterns. The main aim of the traditional farms is the separate their sheeps from the sheeps of transhumance. Until end of the September the sheeps will graze in high Alpine pasture.
