**5. Conclusions**

This study shows vividly that the e ffects of industrialization and national or EU agricultural policies on remote regions require special attention. The socio-ecological transformation of recent decades pushed the island community into a dilemma between economic development and preservation needs. Agriculture plays a key role in this process, as the increase of the small ruminant population triggered environmental and social problems which pose threats to the entire island community. The reasons for this development are manifold but are strongly associated with structural land use changes, global industrialization of agriculture and the agricultural market and finally, the regional implementation of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). To enable a recovery of the local ecosystems, animal numbers must decline substantially. Local socio-economic contexts must be much better taken into account for a new CAP legislation after 2020. Direct payments should reach those who implement measures for sustainable livestock production. The flexibility on a national or regional level should be adapted in a way that a situation, such as that reported in the present study, can be prevented.

Herrero et al. point out that many ideas look grea<sup>t</sup> on paper but are only implemented by 10–20% of farmers, for a wide range of reasons. The authors further state that the understanding of environmental implications of livestock systems and factors that need to change has progressed substantially, while little is known of how to practically implement these changes [2]. Transdisciplinary science can play a crucial role in facilitating this process on a local level, by engaging farmers in the scientific process and fostering collaboration among and between farmers and experts from various fields. The long-term research project to which this study contributes, combines analytical and managemen<sup>t</sup> approaches towards sustainability transitions [53]. Since 2008, researchers have been engaged in a process that tries to achieve scientific progress with a practical outcome. It started with focus group interviews with farmers, which led to a study about the local farming system [54]. Results were used to develop a decision support app (www.happygoats.eu) that was further used to approach local small ruminant farmers. In collaboration with *Terraprima* (www.terraprima.pt), sown biodiverse pastures (SBPs) were applied on 13 plots (SBPs were developed by the Portuguese university spin o ff *Terraprima* and are based on sowing up to 20 species/varieties of legumes and grasses that are self-maintained for at least 10 years. The legumes, being 'natural factories' of nitrogen, minimize the need for synthetic fertilizers. SBP result in, on average 30%, higher biomass production and higher grazing resistance). A growing number of farmers have become interested in the research project, which will hopefully yield stronger collaboration among farmers and between farmers and researchers in the near future. The response of socio-ecological systems to science interventions only becomes visible after long time intervals. Thus, a systematic evaluation of the impact on the local small ruminant farming system is only possible after a certain period and marks an important next step in this project.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/762/s1: Supplementary Information (SI) and Supplementary Data (SD).

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, D.N., C.L., V.G. and D.W.; methodology, D.N. and C.L.; validation, D.N. and C.L.; formal analysis, D.N. and C.L.; investigation, D.N.; resources, D.N.; data curation, D.N.; writing—original draft preparation, D.N.; writing—review and editing, D.N., C.L., V.G. and D.W.; visualization, D.N.; supervision, D.W.; project administration, D.N. and D.W.; funding acquisition, D.N. and D.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Austrian National Science Fund FWF projects SUSAKI (P 27951-G27), CiSciSusaki (TCS 22) and MISO (P27590) and from the Austrian National Committee for UNESCO's "Man and the Biosphere Programme" at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW). This project has

further received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreemen<sup>t</sup> No. 741950).

**Acknowledgments:** We wish to thank Giorgos Maskalidis, Carlota Marañon, Jacqueline Kirby, Panos Petridis, Evgenia Tsianou and all participants of the summer schools 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019 for their assistance during data collection and many fruitful discussions. We thank the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) for the provision of data and continuous assistance. Further, we want to thank Prof. Marina Fischer-Kowalski for her advice and provision of required resources for conducting this study. Finally, we want to thank the farmers of Samothrace for their collaboration and support.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
