Conserving local goats breeds and traditional pastoralism in Southern France

Extensive livestock productions is historically linked to local, traditional breeds. Both these production
systems and traditional breeds have markedly declined or even disappeared in some areas, as a result
of global trends toward intensification, specialisation and abandonment of marginal areas. More
recently, interest in the preservation of livestock biodiversity has been revived. Concern over the
livelihood of marginal rural areas and landscape management accompanies the political debate over
rare breeds. Parallel to institutional activity, and in many cases as forerunners, social actors have
undertaken action to avoid both breed extinction and the loss of pastoralist traditions. In this paper, we
present the findings of a qualitative survey of local goat husbandry in Southern France. Non-directive
interviews of extension experts and breeders of two local goat breeds, the Rove and the Provençal,
revealed a strong link between the breeders’ perception of local breeds/pastoralism and their broader
worldview. Most breeders are “back-to-the-landers”. Their choice to raise local breeds in the
pastoralist way is linked to a vision of society as a whole. Their account is interpreted as the will to
resist to mainstream discourse and practice of rural development in marginal areas.