Committed cattle farmers

With an expression that is open, honest and quietly unassuming, her face reflects the light of the mountains where she lives and pursues her commitment to saving an endangered species, the Albera cow. Marta Carola is a Barcelona-born biologist whose academic achievements include a doctorate and a PhD. Having begun her career in research, she now devotes all her time to country life in these mountains that straddle Alt Empordà and Northern Catalonia, turning the lands around Baussitges, in the small town of Espolla into the centre of her world. She is no stranger to these parts, however, as her family originated from the area and she and her brother cofounded their own small sausage production business here, which subsequently led to her lending him a hand with working his olive farm and turning his smallholding towards organic farming, managing the fields and becoming the poster girl for promoting the benefits of breeding Albera cattle.

She never tires of trumpeting the qualities of this rare, indigenous breed of cow with a pure bloodline. They are hardy, strong, resilient, intelligent cattle that, due to their smaller than average size, are agile enough to jump if the need arises. They even graze differently, more like herbivores in the wild; eating grass, but also foraging for branches, green shoots, seedlings and wild fruits. Alberas are very well adapted to their mountain environment and, as such, Carola describes them as natural undergrowth clearers, which makes them a highly effective resource for helping to prevent forest fires. Hence, they have a role to play in the ecological management and protection of the region. Their disappearance, she says, would not only mean an enormous loss of information but would also greatly diminish the natural diversity.

Water and land shortages

There is currently a herd of around 500 Albera cows in Baussitges; one male for every 25 females. In the spring and summer, they graze on the high mountain terrain, descending to the edge of the farm in late autumn, which means that they need access to water and pasture land to round out their feeding. Water, which currently needs to be brought in specially, is an increasingly scarce natural resource and, as 200 hectares of grazing land is required to meet the needs of this size of herd, the 20-hectare farm struggles to cope. This is becoming a real issue; with the calves breeding every year and only the male calves used for meat consumption, the ever-expanding herd is putting an increasing amount of pressure on the land and increasing the risk of upsetting the delicate natural balance. Despite the problems, Marta Carola remains upbeat, her smile not even faltering in the face of words, such as “future” and “ruin”. The key lies in gathering enough financial resources to recover meadows and terraces that are currently unworkable and finding people interested in capitalising on the potential of these animals in terms of forestry management and food supply.

Raising awareness through the association

A few years ago, Carola and her associates set up the The Baussitges Friends of the Albera Cow Association, a non-profit organisation that concerns itself with the conservation, expansion, genetic improvement and promotion of this species. They also put a great deal of emphasis on raising awareness, an element which is, in fact, fundamental in order to attract interest, build alliances and commitments, as well as open up channels with the hospitality industry, meat suppliers and small-scale consumer trade associations. That, in a nutshell, is Marta Carola’s vision for preventing the disappearance of a breed of cattle that, right now, are peacefully grazing far from the all the hustle and bustle of the world in a field somewhere in Albera.