In Wildfire-Ravaged Spain, Farmers Revive Native Sheep and Cows to Graze on Flammable Plants
July 23, 2026 | Source: Reuters | by Victoria Waldersee and Miguel Vidal
VINCIOS, Spain, July 23 (Reuters) – A goat-like cow is making a comeback in Spain’s northwestern Galicia region, as communities reintroduce native livestock to rebalance ecosystems and reduce wildfires in an area that was at the epicentre of the country’s worst year for fires in 2025.
Mass plantation of highly flammable pine and eucalyptus trees for industrial uses drove away native breeds like the “Cachena”, the Iberian peninsula’s smallest breed of cow, with much of the terrain left untended and overgrown as rural populations migrated to cities.
The Cachena are known locally as “goat-cows” as they eat almost anything and are able to negotiate mountainous terrain that larger cows can’t.
A fire in 2017 that tore through the parish of Vincios prompted community associations who collectively manage the land to opt for a centuries-old wildfire prevention technique — breeding native livestock including goats, sheep, and the nimble long-horned Cachena cows, which help clear flammable undergrowth by grazing on the land.