Dehesa is a type of wooded pastureland found in the Iberian peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

, used for the grazing

Grazing

Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...

 of livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

 (from Castilian

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

for "pastureland"). Dehesas are communal property (usually belonging to the municipality), where residents can also obtain non-timber forest products

Non-timber forest products

Non-timber forest products are considered as any commodity obtained from the forest that does not necessitate harvesting trees. It includes game animals, fur-bearers, nuts and seeds, berries,...

 such as wild game, mushrooms, and firewood

Firewood

Firewood is any wood-like material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form....

.

Nature

The dehesa is derived from the Mediterranean forest ecosystem, consisting of pastureland featuring herbaceous species for grazing and tree species belonging to the genus Quercus (oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

), such as the holm oak (Quercus ilex), although other tree species such as beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

 and pine trees may also be present.

Importance

The dehesa system has great economic and social importance on the Iberian peninsula because of both the large amount of land involved and its importance in maintaining the rural population levels. The dehesa system has reduced the flow of emigration and its consequences (aging, increased mortality rates, lower birth rates, abandonment of farms, etc.).

Economic context

The exploitation of the dehesa usually coincides with areas that could be termed "marginal" because of both their limited agricultural potential (due to the poor quality of the soil) and the lack of an industrial fabric, which boils down to isolated agro-industries and very small capitalization.

Extension in the Iberian peninsula

Dehesas encompass nearly 20,000 square kilometers on the Iberian peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

, mainly in:

Spain

• Córdoba
• Extremadura
• Salamanca
  Salamanca (province)
  Salamanca is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, Valladolid, Ávila, and Cáceres; and by Portugal....
  
  
• Seville
• Sierra Morena
• Sierra Norte de Huelva

Other uses of the term

Dehesa also refers to the type of rangeland management of estates for private agro-livestock exploitation in Mediterranean-type forests from which multiple resources are obtained simultaneously.