Mediterranean mountains contain an integrated complex of natural resources and their inhabitants, depending generally directly on many of these resources for their livelihoods, tend to utilize and manage them through a combination of land-use practices, mainly livestock production and forestry. The specific mountain-related conditions, which the mountain communities faces are, the limited land resources, the marginal agricultural conditions, isolation, and scant equipment and infrastructure.

Livestock is of particular importance in mountainous production systems as they convert plant biomass into directly useful to humans, milk, meat and draught power and provide people with a secure form of investment and risk cushions, which are key to the sustainability.

Starting from the human factor, the symposium will address the development of the mountain communities and their agricultural activities, which constitute the basis for the investigation of the present situation. The different types of the utilization of the land resources by livestock will be presented in the main topic of livestock production and natural resources, which also includes forestry activities in the mediterranean mountain areas and the livestock land use in relation to the landscape.

The improvement of the efficiency of the livestock systems in the mediterranean mountains will constitute a main topic of the symposium. In this context, genetic resources, including the autochthonous breeds, feed resources, management practices, typical products and their marketing and also biotechnology and bio-security issues will be addressed. The exploitation of agricultural informatics for better utilization of production resources and methodologies, research and education in the livestock production sector in the Mediterranean mountain areas, are included in the main topic of the environmentally sound management of livestock and natural resources.

Considering livestock as fundamental factor for rural development and also as safeguard of the natural resources, the symposium will address its contribution to the economic development of the mountain areas. The growing interest in the inventory, presentation and valorisation of the traditional culture and knowledge, which we face nowadays, is an issue in the above topic. Also, included are the many initiatives, which have served not only to recognize the importance of traditional animal products, but also to protect them and facilitate their distribution. In this context, agro-tourism and other livestock related activities, which are gaining importance in the mediterranean mountain regions and provide an opportunity for diversification of sources of income and sustainable livelihoods for the local populations, will be covered.

The final round table discussion will address the development and support policies for the animal production sector. The result expected is to maintain a minimum, but sufficient human population, capable to ensure the sustainable natural resources utilization and hence the future of Mediterranean mountainous areas.

The Symposium, the twelfth in the series of mediterranean symposia, will be organized by the HSAP in collaboration with EAAP, CIHEAM and FAO. It will be held in the city of Ioannina, a Mediterranean mountain place of rare beauty, which is the capital of the homonymous prefecture, as well as the economic, administrative and cultural centre of Epirus, located in the northwestern side of Greece. In this region, livestock farming has traditionally a very important role in the rural economy.

The city of Ioannina possess sufficient facilities regarding hotel accommodation and conference rooms and its airport has regular connections with Athens and Thessaloniki (the second bigger city in Greece).

1. Human geography of Mediterranean Mountain territories

(Importance, Human Communities, Basis of agricultural activity, Factors of changes and constraints, Diagnosis of present situation)

• Introductory paper.
• Presentations from Greece, Italy, Pyrénées, Morocco and Turkey.

 2. Livestock production and natural resources

Characterisation of utilisation of land resources by livestock (soil, plant cover and biodiversity, watersheds, animal grazing behaviour and animal waste issues)

• Sustainable utilisation of forest areas.
• Livestock land use and landscape.

 3. Improving the efficiency of livestock systems in Mediterranean Mountains

• Cattle systems.
• Dairy sheep systems.
• Dairy goats systems.
• Small ruminant meat systems.
• Pigs, rabbits, poultry, equines.

 4. Applications of new technologies for environmentally sound management of livestock and natural resources in mountain areas

(Use of GIS, remote sensing, other information technologies)

5. Livestock as a fundamental factor for rural development and safeguard of natural resources in mountain areas of the Mediterranean

Case studies to address:

• Economic development of mountain areas and contribution of livestock;
• Strategies for preservation and valorisation of endogenous culture and traditional knowledge;
• Development of high added value animal products;
• Agro-tourism and other livestock related activities (handcrafts, games,...).

6. Round Table

Development and support policies for sustaining and promoting the livestock sector in Mountainous areas.

The working languages of the Symposium will be English and French.