THE TRANSHUMANCE

Did you know that in the “Prënzebierg – Gielebotter” area, roaming sheep are used to protect and maintain the habitat zone? The flora and fauna, which thrive in light and warmth and are adapted to nutrient-poor conditions, need to be regularly maintained in the dry grasslands that have formed here, in order to extract nutrients. The use of sheep and goats has proven to be a labor-saving and respectful method to prevent the growth of shrubs and trees, thus counteracting the gradual transformation of dry grasslands into forests. This practice is made possible through transhumance, which involves the same flock of sheep grazing in different geographic areas. As each grazing area only provides enough food for a limited period, it is absolutely necessary to move from one grazing area to another. To implement this practice, in addition to the sheep, a shepherd and his sheepdogs are required.

In Luxembourg, the tradition of transhumance was inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list in April 2021. Since December 2023, transhumance has been added to the four other Luxembourg entries on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, namely the dancing procession of Echternach (2010), the musical art of hunting horn blowers (2020), the Fléizen (2023) – traditional method of watering pastures – and the Hiewanskonscht (2023) – midwifery skills.

Between May and December, you have the opportunity to see the sheep in action, as during this period, they move from one open-pit mining site in southern Luxembourg to another, with the aim of maintaining the landscape and preserving its unique biodiversity.