ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Pastoralism
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/past.2025.14939
This article is part of the Special IssueThe role of pastoral livestock and products in climate changeView all 6 articles
Goat Transhumance in Mediterranean Turkey: Characterization and Key Factors Driving Its Transformation
- Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Türkiye
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Goat transhumance in Mediterranean Turkey is undergoing significant transformation due to intersecting political, economic, institutional, and environmental pressures. This study explores these changes by identifying the primary forces driving transformation and by analyzing the adaptive responses developed by transhumant pastoralists in this evolving context. Specifically, the research aims to both document and describe current goat transhumance practices and to assess how they are being reshaped by policy frameworks, market integration, ecological shifts, and socio-political dynamics.Through field-based ethnographic and ecological research conducted over two full migration seasons (2019-2020), the study offers insights into how traditional knowledge systems interact with sustainability paradigms-particularly green and circular economy principles-to manage uncertainty, maintain mobility, and support pastoral resilience. Data were gathered through participant observation, semi-structured "walk-and-talk" interviews with 15 families, and ecological surveys of migration routes, stopover areas, and herd-environment interactions. Ethnographic findings emphasized labor dynamics, gender roles, and mobility structures, while ecological data addressed pasture conditions and grazing impacts. Triangulating these data revealed the socio-ecological logic of transhumance under shifting conditions. Six core drivers were identified: rural urbanization and demographic trends, economic pressures and market integration, governmental and policy frameworks, impact of climate change, COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of circular and green economic frameworks. Despite mounting pressures, the study highlights that pastoralists continue to engage in strategic adaptations-such as rotational grazing, breed diversification, and labor reorganizationgrounded in long-standing ecological knowledge. The findings demonstrate that transhumance persists not as a relic of the past, but as a dynamic and ecologically efficient livelihood system capable of responding to multi-scalar rural challenges.
Keywords: goat pastoralism, green and circular economy, Mediterranean Turkey, transformation, Transhumance
Received: 21 May 2025; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ocak Yetisgin and CAnan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sezen Ocak Yetisgin, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Türkiye
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