The decline of Galicia’s ancestral wild horses

In the last 50 years, the number of wild horses in Galicia has fallen by half. Although there is no official count, a reliable estimate from the 1970s placed the population at 22,000; it is now around 10,000 according to a new study by A Coruña University.

This herd of bestas, as they are known in this northwestern region of Spain, is still the largest not only in the country but also in Europe. But according to Jaime Fagúndez, head of a study on the environmental benefits of wild horses that was recently presented to the European Commission, “if something is not done soon, they will end up disappearing altogether.”

Fagúndez’s team argues that these wild horses can be part of the solution to problems triggered by the climate crisis, the depopulation of rural areas and the lack of biodiversity.

“Although a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be demonstrated, it is clear that many mountainous areas of Galicia where the horses once roamed have been converted to forest,” says Fagúndez. “This clearly increases the risk of fires due to an accumulation of fuel.”

The study flags up the fact that the wild horse ecosystem in Galicia “generates benefits compared to alternatives such as reforestation, livestock farming on artificial pastures or land abandonment.” According to the researchers, the horses’ grazing areas include different types of heather that are advantageous to the ecosystem, offering “high biodiversity, high rates of carbon storage and low fire risk.”

The horses also have an indirect positive impact since by consuming shrubs such as gorse, “they increase the quality of the pastures and thus reduce the costs of machine-driven slashing for fire prevention.” Moreover, the wild horses in the Galician mountains, adds Fagúndez, “constitute a unique cultural legacy connecting us to Galicia’s rural landscape and values pertaining to nature.”

The A Coruña university study also suggests what might be behind the decline of the wild horse population in Galicia: “On the one hand, the land owners have abandoned the rural environment, leaving behind only the elderly, who cannot take care of it. On the other, there are negative factors influencing the situation such as the drop in the market price of horse meat and other issues relating to funding from the Common Agricultural Policy.”

The researchers call for “habitat conservation criteria; changes in the way livestock units are calculated in wild horse territory and avoiding the transformation of heather-covered countryside into areas of less ecological and cultural value, such as eucalyptus plantations or artificial pastures.”

The research has focused on two specific mountain areas: the Serra da Groba, in the province of Pontevedra, and the Serra do Xistral, in the north of Lugo province, as each provides a different scenario for the wild horses. The Lugo habitat is part of Red Natura 2000 – a network of nature protection areas in the European Union – full of wet heather and peat bogs where the wild horses are owned by professional cattle breeders and where wolves are also present; the Pontevedra area, on the other hand, has a warmer, drier climate, frequent reforestation and fires; here the animals are owned by non-professionals and the curros, or roundups when manes are cut and foals branded before being released back into the wild, are major social events.

What is urgent, according to the study, is to reduce the red tape for the wild horse owners and allow the animals to run free without the need for a microchip. Other vital measures include improving traffic signs to alert drivers to their presence as well as increasing compensation for damage caused by wolves and limiting forestry operation. According to the researchers, the environmental benefits to nurturing the colonies of horses, such as fire prevention, cannot be overlooked.

Ultimately, the researchers are calling on the authorities to commit to implementing policies and regulations “in a more effective way.” They are also appealing to Galicians and their political leaders, “to safeguard the treasure of the wild horses for future generations.” Finally, they are urging the EU and its member states to maintain adequate conditions so that the dwindling population of these wild bestas can be maintained.