Detecting the land use of ancient transhumance routes (Tratturi) and their potential for Italian inner areas’ growth

Transhumance is an ancient form of pastoralism involving the traditional use of natural resources. Nowadays, the routes that characterised it are disappearing. Only a few fragments of the old pathways still survive in some European countries. In Southern Italy, transhumance developed along grassy paths named Tratturi. The paper aims to determine the potential of ancient transhumance routes in Italian inner areas’ development, by verifying their state of preservation and their possible connections with economic activities located along the paths. Methodologies employed rely on orthophotos interpretation with GIS software, and statistical analysis, in particular correspondence analysis and correlation analysis. Results show that Tratturi land uses have changed over time, often with negative impacts on the preservation of the paths. Ancient transhumance routes are currently threatened by renaturation processes, which follow the progressive abandonment of grazing and the spread of intensive agriculture. Tratturi could play a very important role in regional growth, but the analyses highlight how they are not able to contribute to the development of new economic activities related to their exploitation. The findings suggest the need to implement public policies for inner areas’ growth based on the potential deriving from the preservation, recovery and enhancement of Tratturi.