IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v10y2021i3p293-d516129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Forest Area Changes in Cinque Terre National Park in the Last 80 Years. Consequences on Landslides and Forest Fire Risks

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio Santoro

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy)

  • Martina Venturi

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy)

  • Francesco Piras

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy)

  • Beatrice Fiore

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy)

  • Federica Corrieri

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy)

  • Mauro Agnoletti

    (Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy)

Abstract

Cinque Terre, one of the most important Italian cultural landscapes, has not been spared from depopulation and agricultural abandonment processes, that involved many rural areas in Europe, as a consequence of socio-economic transformations that occurred after WWII. Depopulation of rural areas, especially in mountains or in terraced areas, caused significant environmental consequences, such as the decrease of biodiversity, the landscape homogenization, the increase of hydrogeological and forest fires risks. Cinque Terre National Park (5TNP) was established in 1999, and, differently from other Italian National Parks, not just for protecting natural habitats, but mainly to preserve, restore and valorize the historical terraced landscape. Moreover, the area is a UNESCO cultural landscape site and it is partly protected by three Sites of Community Importance. The research intended to investigate the transformations that have affected forested areas inside the 5TNP in the period 1936–2018, also highlighting the connections with hydrogeological and forest fires risks, as a support for the Park planning strategies and the conservation of the UNESCO site. Results highlighted that 37% of the current forests are the consequence of dry stones terraces abandonment that occurred in the twentieth century, with negative effects on the stability of steep slopes, hydrogeological risk, forest fires and on the conservation of a unique cultural landscape. This confirms the current national trend showing no deforestation occurring, but rather a continuous increase of forests on abandoned land. While 5TNP policies and actions are effectively aimed at pursuing an equilibrium between cultivated areas and forests, the Sites of Community Importance located inside the Park mainly focuses on the conservation of “natural habitats”, even if the current vegetation is also the result of secondary successions on former cultivated land. The research highlighted the need to valorize “cultural values” in forest planning as well as the importance of forest history for an accurate planning of forest resources in protected areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Santoro & Martina Venturi & Francesco Piras & Beatrice Fiore & Federica Corrieri & Mauro Agnoletti, 2021. "Forest Area Changes in Cinque Terre National Park in the Last 80 Years. Consequences on Landslides and Forest Fire Risks," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:3:p:293-:d:516129
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/3/293/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/3/293/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mauro Agnoletti & Alessandro Errico & Antonio Santoro & Andrea Dani & Federico Preti, 2019. "Terraced Landscapes and Hydrogeological Risk. Effects of Land Abandonment in Cinque Terre (Italy) during Severe Rainfall Events," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, January.
    2. Margherita Carlucci & Ilaria Zambon & Andrea Colantoni & Luca Salvati, 2019. "Socioeconomic Development, Demographic Dynamics and Forest Fires in Italy, 1961–2017: A Time-Series Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Cornelius Senf & Rupert Seidl, 2021. "Mapping the forest disturbance regimes of Europe," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 63-70, January.
    4. Antonio Santoro & Martina Venturi & Mauro Agnoletti, 2021. "Landscape Perception and Public Participation for the Conservation and Valorization of Cultural Landscapes: The Case of the Cinque Terre and Porto Venere UNESCO Site," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-24, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hang Li & James H. Speer & Ichchha Thapa, 2022. "Analyzing Resilience in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem after the 1988 Wildfire in the Western U.S. Using Remote Sensing and Soil Database," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Dimitrios Chouvardas & Maria Karatassiou & Petros Tsioras & Ioannis Tsividis & Stefanos Palaiochorinos, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Changes (1945–2020) in a Grazed Landscape of Northern Greece, in Relation to Socioeconomic Changes," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-22, November.
    3. Giuseppe Cillis & Dina Statuto & Pietro Picuno, 2021. "Historical GIS as a Tool for Monitoring, Preserving and Planning Forest Landscape: A Case Study in a Mediterranean Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, August.
    4. Sergio Elías Uribe-Sierra & Pablo Mansilla-Quiñones & Alejandro Israel Mora-Rojas, 2022. "Latent Rural Depopulation in Latin American Open-Pit Mining Scenarios," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-23, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Enrico Pomatto & Marco Devecchi & Federica Larcher, 2022. "Coevolution between Terraced Landscapes and Rural Communities: An Integrated Approach Using Expert-Based Assessment and Evaluation of Winegrowers’ Perceptions (Northwest Piedmont, Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-27, July.
    2. Enrico Pomatto & Marco Devecchi & Federica Larcher, 2022. "Assessment of the Terraced Landscapes’ Integrity: A GIS-Based Approach in a Potential GIAHS-FAO Site (Northwest Piedmont, Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Enrico Pomatto & Paola Gullino & Silvia Novelli & Marco Devecchi & Federica Larcher, 2023. "Landscape Strategies for Terraced Landscapes in the European Alpine Region Using a Mixed-Method Analysis Tool," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, June.
    4. Ahmadreza Shirvani Dastgerdi & Reza Kheyroddin, 2022. "Policy Recommendations for Integrating Resilience into the Management of Cultural Landscapes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Grazia Brunetta & Ombretta Caldarice & Martino Faravelli, 2022. "Mainstreaming climate resilience: A GIS-based methodology to cope with cloudbursts in Turin, Italy," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(5), pages 1431-1447, June.
    6. Joachim Maes & Adrián G. Bruzón & José I. Barredo & Sara Vallecillo & Peter Vogt & Inés Marí Rivero & Fernando Santos-Martín, 2023. "Accounting for forest condition in Europe based on an international statistical standard," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Shirvani Dastgerdi, Ahmadreza & Sargolini, Massimo & Broussard Allred, Shorna & Chatrchyan, Allison Morrill & Drescher, Michael & DeGeer, Christopher, 2022. "Climate change risk reduction in cultural landscapes: Insights from Cinque Terre and Waterloo," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    8. Qureshi, Salman & Tarashkar, Mahsa & Matloobi, Mansour & Wang, Zhifang & Rahimi, Akbar, 2022. "Understanding the dynamics of urban horticulture by socially-oriented practices and populace perception: Seeking future outlook through a comprehensive review," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    9. Pietro Piana & Francesco Faccini & Fabio Luino & Guido Paliaga & Alessandro Sacchini & Charles Watkins, 2019. "Geomorphological Landscape Research and Flood Management in a Heavily Modified Tyrrhenian Catchment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-22, August.
    10. Antonio Santoro & Martina Venturi & Mauro Agnoletti, 2021. "Landscape Perception and Public Participation for the Conservation and Valorization of Cultural Landscapes: The Case of the Cinque Terre and Porto Venere UNESCO Site," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-24, January.
    11. Ingrid Vigna & Angelo Besana & Elena Comino & Alessandro Pezzoli, 2021. "Application of the Socio-Ecological System Framework to Forest Fire Risk Management: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Zefeng Chen & Weiguang Wang & Giovanni Forzieri & Alessandro Cescatti, 2024. "Transition from positive to negative indirect CO2 effects on the vegetation carbon uptake," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    13. Per Angelstam & Michael Manton, 2021. "Effects of Forestry Intensification and Conservation on Green Infrastructures: A Spatio-Temporal Evaluation in Sweden," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-29, May.
    14. Antonio Santoro & Martina Venturi & Mauro Agnoletti, 2020. "Agricultural Heritage Systems and Landscape Perception among Tourists. The Case of Lamole, Chianti (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, April.
    15. Fuchs, Jasper M. & v. Bodelschwingh, Hilmar & Lange, Alexander & Paul, Carola & Husmann, Kai, 2022. "Quantifying the consequences of disturbances on wood revenues with Impulse Response Functions," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    16. Claudio Bellia & Pietro Columba & Marzia Ingrassia, 2022. "The Brand–Land Identity of Etna Volcano Valley Wines: A Policy Delphi Study," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-32, June.
    17. Salvatore Praticò & Francesco Solano & Salvatore Di Fazio & Giuseppe Modica, 2022. "A Multitemporal Fragmentation-Based Approach for a Dynamics Analysis of Agricultural Terraced Systems: The Case Study of Costa Viola Landscape (Southern Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, March.
    18. Suresh Chaudhary & Yukuan Wang & Amod Mani Dixit & Narendra Raj Khanal & Pei Xu & Bin Fu & Kun Yan & Qin Liu & Yafeng Lu & Ming Li, 2019. "Spatiotemporal Degradation of Abandoned Farmland and Associated Eco-Environmental Risks in the High Mountains of the Nepalese Himalayas," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, December.
    19. Chidiebere Ofoegbu & Heiko Balzter & Martin Phillips, 2023. "Evidence Synthesis towards a Holistic Landscape Decision Framework: Insight from the Landscape Decisions Programme," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, August.
    20. Sorin Avram & Irina Ontel & Carmen Gheorghe & Steliana Rodino & Sanda Roșca, 2021. "Applying a Complex Integrated Method for Mapping and Assessment of the Degraded Ecosystem Hotspots from Romania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-23, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:3:p:293-:d:516129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.