| Summary: | In a context of global change, reconciling agricultural production and biodiversity preservation is a major challenge. In mountain regions identified as "High Nature Value", divergent visions between shepherds and ecologists take the form of clashes of expertise regarding the effects of agricultural practices on ecological dynamics. In order to promote exchanges between opposing groups of actors, this research aims to shed light on the nature and conditions of the elaboration of the shepherds’ local naturalist knowledge, of the French and Spanish Pyrenees. We consider that beyond the knowledge of breeding, the daily frequentation of a non-productive flora and fauna allows the acquisition of knowledge related to the personality of each shepherds and to the places that he frequents. We therefore assume that this knowledge is inseparable from the spatial and ecological characteristics of the places and environments that the herders shape, but also from their inhabitancy. Based on forty in-depth interviews, we show the existence of a pool of common knowledge, particularly related to wild species that pose a problem for livestock farming. On the other hand, for non-problematic species, much more differentiated knowledge distinguishes individuals and places. Inhabitancy is an essential determinant of this knowledge’s acquisition, but are still understudied by social or ecological sciences.
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