Diava, nomadic pastoralism in mountainous Northern Greece

Pastoral Farming, is a centuries old practice kept alive in the crisis stricken Greece. High in the mountains of Northern Greece a farming practice that belongs in previous centuries still takes place. This practice –or technique called Diava (in Greek means moving by feet)– which can be tracked down in centuries is the yearly rural migration of shepherds and their flocks between summer and winter pastures and from isolated highlands to warmer lowlands. Throughout time and spaces such movements have been at the core of cultural and social composition of mountainous farming communities while they have contributed to shaping and developing the landscape of the areas they took place. Practiced mostly by the Greece’s indigenous groups such as the Vlachs and Sarakatsans, pastoral farming used to be the country’s main practice until the 1960s and 1970s when new farming technologies started emerging. Recently, it became part of the UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage. Nowadays, very few families keep moving by feet without using any mean of transportation to keep their flock in high altitudes during summer and after move more than 200 km to go back to their winter destination which is in Thessaly region, Central Greece. This is not only a traditional and cultural action but also an ecological and environmental friendly practice which maintains the human presence in one of the most remote mountainous areas in Balkans and EU.

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