L'allevamento asinino: biodiversità zootecnica nelle aree protette

European Directives well express the intrinsic value of biological diversity and of its ecological, genetic, and socio-economic components, recognizing that the fundamental rule of in situ conservation ecosystems and natural habitats maintenance. Among the extensive husbandry managed with rational criteria, asinine rearing can exert specific actions in the conservation of some habitats. In fact, donkeys grazing allows in time to contain invasive species and to maintain a high plant diversity. The species, although present with a limited number of animals, is still distributed over most of the area of Basilicata region. In this region are reared 660 donkeys distributed in 141 rearings. Donkeys, all registered in the Equine Population Register are: 403 in the province of Potenza and 257 in the province of Matera. Over 52% of rearings and 48% of consistence is focused within the National Parks (“Appennino Lucano Val d’Agri Lagonegrese” e “Pollino”) and the Regional Parks (“Gallipoli Cognato e Piccole Dolomiti Lucane” e “Chiese Rupestri del Materano”).