Grazing and dairying in the mountain pastures of triglav national park : Cultural heritage and current questions

Mountain pasturing has existed in the Alps already since prehistoric times through to the present day. Archaeological findings and the etymology of toponyms, pasture and dairying expressions prove the existence of pasturing in the present area of the Triglav National Park (TNP) in pre-Roman and Roman times as well as the practice of milk processing since the Middle Ages at the latest. Mountain pasturing and processing of milk evolved in modern times. In the second half of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century, these practices became a very important part of animal husbandry in mountainous regions. The efforts to render farming and milk processing in Alpine pastures more efficient are evident in the organisation of dairy courses and in the joint organization of milk processing in the framework of dairy cooperatives. Mountain pasturing has declined in the second half of the 20th century due to diverse socio-economic factors, but mainly because of urbanization and de-agrarization processes. However, grazing and cheese making have remained present in some mountain pastures. There are several dairy mountain pastures in the southern littoral part of TNP: Lom, Podkuk, Polog, Pretovc, Razor, Stador, Sleme andMedrje in the Tolmin region, Leskovica, Kašina, Kuhinja, Zaslap and Zaprikraj in the Kobarid Vregion and Duplje, Loška Koritnica and Mangrt in the Bovec region. Intensive urbanization, de-agrarization and development of tourism and forestry have caused the reduction of dairy pastures in the northern Carniola part of TNP. In fact there are only five high mountain dairy pastures left in the region of Bohinj, namely Konjšcica, Laz, Krstenica, Velo polje and Zadnji Vogel, which was revitalized two years ago. Several elements of cultural heritage are connected with dairy mountain pasturing, from tangible to intangible heritage as well as in the form of cultural landscapes; according to the CulturalHeritage Protection Act, these elements are classified either as real estate, movable or living cultural heritage. Some of the mountain pastures have been valorized as national or local monuments or have been merely inscribed in the Register of Cultural Heritage as rural settlements or cultural landscape. Objects connected with life and work of herdsmen are presented as movable cultural heritage in several museums or collections within the range of TNP or on its margin. Even though there are no entries in the Register of the Living Cultural Heritage connected with Alpine pasturing, The Platform Management Plan of TNP mentions rich idiomatic expressions, folk tourist events, herdsmen work customs; in addition, diverse estate and organizational relations among owners, herdsmen and cheesemakers as well as the rich knowledge on animal husbandry and dairying could be included here. In Alpine pastures, milk is processed into several hard cheeses, cottage cheese, butter, buttermilk and sour milk. Bovec cheese and Tolminc were awarded with theprotection designation of origin at the European level and Mohant cheese on the national level. The elements of cultural heritage mentioned above were awarded the status of cultural heritage in the framework of authorized heritage discourse. Herdsmen, cheese makers and cattle owners have a different connection with elements of cultural heritage, since they can be understood as heritage practitioners. The fact they are also producers of cultural heritage positions them at the center of the field of the heritage discourse, providing them a latent power as well as a sense of legitimacy for participation in heritage discourse. Finally, the author discusses current issues of dairy mountain pasturing and its cultural heritage and identifies existing differences and modes of reconciling said differences in understandings and experiences of existing stakeholders, from directly involved agents to representatives of public interest. The main focus will be on the diverse opinions concerning the preservation of architectural heritage, the construction and widening of existing roads, the renting out of residences to tourists and weekenders, the production and marketing of dairy products and the activities of mountain pastures dairy farmers in the administrative procedures and management plan of the TNP as well as in the field of public discourse.