RAPCA — Andalusia's Grazed Fuel-Break Network for Wildfire Prevention

RAPCA (Red de Áreas Pasto-Cortafuegos de Andalucía) is run by the Andalusian regional government's environment department as part of the region's INFOCA wildfire prevention plan. Since 2003 it has paid shepherds and ranchers to graze sheep and goats along mapped fuel-break corridors in Andalusia's public forests, using controlled grazing to keep flammable biomass low instead of, or alongside, mechanical clearance.

Enrolled shepherds receive a fixed initial bonus plus a variable rate of €42–90 per hectare depending on terrain difficulty and vegetation type, with final payment tiered at 100%, 75% or 50% against biomass-consumption compliance targets. A technical team coordinates area selection with INFOCA and screens ranchers against defined criteria, and Spain's national research council (CSIC) played an early role in the silvopastoral design.

Coverage grew roughly eight-fold from about 700 hectares in 2005 to a documented peak of 15,371 hectares and 451 participating shepherds in 2012, involving over 200,000 sheep and goats, before contracting to roughly 5,700 hectares and 181 ranchers in more recent reporting, still spanning all eight Andalusian provinces. A 2018 peer-reviewed study separately documented 223 shepherds covering close to 6,000 hectares in 2016.

The contraction from the 2012 peak to current coverage is not explained in either source and likely reflects budget or participation fluctuations rather than a change in method. Neither source reports quantified biodiversity, water or soil outcomes, or measured reductions in fire incidence or severity, so the evidence is strongest on programme design, payment structure and institutional continuity rather than on downstream ecological impact.