ESC: Human-Animal-Environment Connections 4 future

AEPGA (Associação para o Estudo e Proteção do Gado Asinino) is an Environmental NGO. It was created in 2001 and its works and activities aim towards the protection and the preservation of the Portuguese endangered breed of Donkeys “Burro de Miranda”, to value the landscape and the cultural heritage linked to this animal, and to provide welfare and veterinary care to donkeys in Portugal, promoting donkey valorization. This donkey breed has its geographical origins in the northeast part of Portugal, in the place called Planalto Mirandês, with one of its main cultural centres the village of Miranda Do Douro. With the mechanisation of agriculture in the past decades, these animals lost their role in farmlands and their number critically decreased. On the other hand, the existing animals lacked proper health treatments, the welfare concerns were few, and they were mistreated by the end of life. AEPGA mission since its beginning was to address these problems, to dignify the donkey and its importance as genetic heritage and as a symbol and actor in the socio-cultural landscape of the region. In order to do that, we work closely with the local communities and with the donkey owners at a regional and national level. We manage three centers where we daily treat, feed, and take care of more than 80 specimens of this autochthonous rural breed and give shelter to abandoned or mistreated non-breed donkeys. Besides the veterinary support and the disclosure of information on donkey welfare in the community, we organize activities aimed towards the promotion of the local, cultural and environmental richness of the area, we perform daily ecological activities as well as other long term international projects. Some of them relate to the maintenance of the ecological landscape. Others are based on ludic foundations, as art festivals and cultural walks in nature alongside the donkeys as journey companions. As part of that, we keep alive and share with new generations, the past and the present roles of donkeys in society, focusing on rural development, ecological agriculture, and rural tourism.