Fieldwork 01

First fieldwork campaing

The first fieldwork campaing of the EthWAL project was carried out in June 2013

The first part of the research took place in the Monregalese area (Cuneo province, Italy). The activities focused on the small Municipality of Frabosa Sottana, that corresponds to the entire territory of Val Maudagna (see the photo below).

With the precious help of Giovanni Comino, mayor of Frabosa Sottana, I had the opportunity to consult the local historical archive, to meet and interview some shepherds and to know better the study area. I have also acquired some digital cartography (thanks to Gianni Siletto, of the Regione Piemonte) and I have heard of interesting studies on rural landscapes that have been carried out in other mountain areas of the Piemonte Region (thanks to Diego Mondo, of the Regione Piemonte).

The second part of my research took place in the Parc National des Ecrins. In order to understand the current and traditional pastoral strategies in this area, I went to the Maison du Berger, a museum and documentation center for alpine transhumance located in the small village of Champoleon (http://www.maisonduberger.fr/). I consulted the library of the museum, and the director, Guillaume Lebaudy, explained me the shepherds' lifestyle  in the French Hautes-Alpes.

Afterwards, I went to the library of the Parc National des Ecrins in Gap (Dept. des Hautes-Alpes), where I had the opportunity to read papers and dossiers that dealt with pastoralism in the Ecrins territory.

After this preliminary phase of research in the French Alps, I decided to select as sample area the high Vallée de Freissiniéres, placed in the Briançonais, in the eastern part of the Parc National des Ecrins (see photo below):

In July the second part of the fieldwork will take place. After selecting the study areas and understanding local pastoral strategies (in the recent past as well as nowadays), I am ready to start the proper fieldwork with the shepherds in the high pastures.

Next update in August!