Banat area, from Romania, maintains its old pastoral traditions, of which some are from the Dacians and Romans’ period. In the Administrative Territorial Unit Oraviţa, Caraş – Severin County, the material space, in direct relationship with the religious one, has been crystallized and evolved in strong connection with the relief conditions (the contact between the mountain and the depression area) and the major production activities (animal breeding), which generated a lifestyle specific to the inhabitants of this area. In this perspective, the pastoral year, according to their own calendar, begins with the Christian celebration of Saint George (23rd of April) and ends with Saint Demetrius (26th of October), the opener of the pastoral winter. Under such circumstances, this paperwork attempts to identify the opportunity of maintaining the pastoral traditions related to the beginning of grazing on grasslands from ATU Oraviţa, identified by GIS techniques and teledetection. In order to carry out this study, we also used the data and scientific information provided by the specialty literature regarding the beginning of grazing, data from the Meteo Station Oraviţa (2015-2017), and also data achieved through direct observations, in field. According to temperature variation during March, April and May, the areas of temperature representation for 2016 and 2017 increase compared to 2015, and this reveals the fact that, in 2015, when the temperatures overtake for 10 days an average value bigger than 10 degrees (necessary for plant growing) is comprised within the middle of April, and this corresponds to the beginning of the traditional pastoral year. Meanwhile, in 2016, the corresponding period is comprised between 28th of March and 6th of April, and, in 2017, this period is comprised between the end of March, namely 20th – 29th of March. During this period, the rainfall favours, beside temperature, plant growing in the grasslands analyzed. The Romanian people has created its own calendary, deeply anchored in religion, meteorology, traditions and beliefs reflected in the relationship between traditional activities and nature rhythms, a symbol of maintenance of our cultural identity, by preservation and capitalization of the popular ethos.

temperature, rainfall, grassland, pastoral traditions

field crops and pastures

Presentation: poster