WeideWert - Guided Grazing for Biodiversity and Increased Pasture Quality

The Alps are among the most important biodiversity hotspots in Europe: on just 2% of the land area, around 40% of native flora can be found—much of it in habitats shaped by centuries of traditional land use. However, ongoing structural changes in agriculture are leading to altered management practices such as free grazing, where livestock roam without targeted guidance across pastures. This results in uneven grazing: more favorable areas, often ecologically sensitive habitats, are threatened by overuse and biodiversity loss, while less attractive areas increasingly become overgrown with shrubs and lose their forage value. The decline in knowledge of proper pasture management and the shortage of labor further exacerbate this development—also on alpine pastures in South Tyrol and Tyrol.

The Interreg Italy–Austria project WeideWert addresses these challenges. It responds to biodiversity loss and landscape change with an innovative, cross-border approach: guided grazing is established as a nature-based innovation that strengthens biodiversity, landscape quality, pasture productivity, and civil protection alike. In this approach, grazing animals are given targeted access to limited areas, enabling more even grazing and the preservation of diverse habitats.

In so-called Living Labs—selected alpine pastures in South Tyrol and Tyrol—scientifically grounded concepts for guided grazing are developed, tested, and evaluated through a participatory process involving stakeholders from administration, agriculture, and nature conservation.

With the kick-off meeting on April 9, 2026, the project has now officially started in collaboration with B*COOP, Land Tirol, and Hirtenkultur.