Sebastiano Cullotta

Modeling the influence of alternative forest management scenarios on wood production and carbon storage: A case study in the Mediterranean region.

Forest ecosystems are fundamental for the terrestrial biosphere as they deliver multiple essential ecosystem services (ES). In environmental management, understanding ES distribution and interactions and assessing the economic value of forest ES represent future challenges. In this study, we developed a spatially explicit method based on a multi-scale approach (MiMoSe-Multiscale Mapping of ecoSystem services) to assess the current and future potential of a given forest area to provide ES. To do this we modified and improved the InVEST model in order to adapt input data and simulations to the context of Mediterranean forest ecosystems. Specifically, we integrated a GIS-based model, scenario model, and economic valuation to investigate two ES (wood production and carbon sequestration) and their trade-offs in a test area located in Molise region (Central Italy). Spatial information and trade-off analyses were used to assess the influence of alternative forest management scenarios on investigated services. Scenario A was designed to describe the current Business as Usual approach. Two alternative scenarios were designed to describe management approaches oriented towards nature protection (scenario B) or wood production (scenario C) and compared to scenario A. Management scenarios were simulated at the scale of forest management units over a 20-year time period. Our results show that forest management influenced ES provision and associated benefits at the regional scale. In the test area, the Total Ecosystem Services Value of the investigated ES increases 85% in scenario B and decreases 82% in scenario C, when compared to scenario A. Our study contributes to the ongoing debate about trade-offs and synergies between carbon sequestration and wood production benefits associated with socio-ecological systems. The MiMoSe approach can be replicated in other contexts with similar characteristics, thus providing a useful basis for the projection of benefits from forest ecosystems over the future.

An Inventory Approach to the Assessment of Main Traditional Landscapes in Sicily (Central Mediterranean Basin)

Abstract EU policy for the conservation of cultural landscapes is of particular importance for a region such as Sicily (Italy) which is the site of many Mediterranean traditional cultural landscapes as well as new landscapes created by contemporary agriculture. Such variety of landscape, however, is not supported or confirmed by specialised inventories that identify and classify the typical Main Traditional Landscape (MTL). On the basis of these considerations, the objective of the present paper is to draw up a preliminary inventory and present a brief characterisation of MTLs in Sicily, in line with the multidisciplinary experiences and approaches implemented at European and national levels. In defining the typological units, the terminology used to identify Sicilian MTLs was modified by experiences developed on the mainland, with entries such as: bocage/semi-bocage, coltura promiscua, Mediterranean open field, mountain landscape, huerta and terrace landscape. Using different spatialised data layers, including those concerned with the main historical processes of land use and land use change, a total of eight MTLs have been detected, mapped, and concisely described. The distribution and importance of terracing systems within the different MTLs is highlighted as one of the most relevant traditional elements in the rural scenario.

Forest management planning at different geographic levels in Italy: hierarchy, current tools and ongoing development

SUMMARY This paper examines the current status of forest management tools and their application at different levels in Italy where the majority of land planning has been and is still being done at the “micro-scale”, meaning that specific local issues are dealt with locally. Starting from international European Union law, the authors review the forest acts that led from the National Forest Plan (NFP) to smaller scales, in relation to their geographic and territorial applicability. Scaling down from the NFP to the local level the various Italian forest programmes and plans are analysed according to a vertical logic (hierarchical mode): Regional Forest Programme (RFP), Territorial (i.e. sub-regional) Forest Plan (TFP), Local Forest Plans (LFPs). Then, in a horizontal logic, it is highlighted the importance of an intersectorial and harmonic relational frame among planning tools for the forest and other sectors of environmental planning. As a result of these analyses, the authors emphasize the need for a new systematic holistic approach to the management of forests and environmental resources in general, and in line with all the most important processes at international level on this matter.

Forest types for biodiversity assessment at regional level: the case study of Sicily (Italy)

Within Europe the question of plant coenosis is attracting growing interest. The quality and quantity of collected information on forest resources at a global level largely depends on the capacity to collect and analyse data at national and sub-national scale in a way compatible with those at global or continental levels. In Italy the acceptance of all the international agreements and protocols on the protection of the environment and management of natural resources, requires a standardization of collected information and statistics, with the aim to produce homogeneous and integrative data at global level. This need is reflected in the following points: (1) the adoption of a classification system of land use and forest cover compatible with international hierarchical systems and definitions; (2) the identification of standard procedures in data collection and data elaboration. To classify natural resources and, in this case study, forest resources, implies to order natural and semi natural coenosis, forest and pre-forest communities, in a systematic way, according to the applied variables and to the scale detail. The solution proposed in this case study is organised according to forest management, through the adoption of the habitat approach, describing forest and pre-forest types in a synoptic way and performing a system of nomenclature in agreement with the international standards initiatives. In this way, the characterization of forest types at community level is related to the environmental planning for the protection of biodiversity.

Forest planning across Europe: the spatial scale, tools, andinter-sectoral integration in land-use planning

New approaches to forest planning are needed to support the transition of European forests to sustainable management. The aim of this study is to review forest planning systems already in place throughout Europe by exploring a set of case-study countries reflecting the main silvicultural schools of Western Europe, including Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, and Slovenia. A literature review and case-study data were used to assess the scale factors (vertical logic) as well as the relationships between forest planning and other environmental/land-use planning sectors (horizontal logic). The influence of EU policy on the development of forest planning is also discussed. As assessed using the vertical logic, the multi-scale and multi-topic planning approaches adopted in the countries studied here are highly heterogeneous. The horizontal logic shows that despite the importance of an inter-sectoral and harmonic relational framework between forest planning and the planning efforts of other sectors such as landscape and urban planning, the various plans are barely consistent with each other across the European countries studied here. Although interest is growing in the multi-functionality of forests, their sustainable management calls for the development of better integrated planning approaches across Europe.

La Pianificazione forestale ai diversi livelli in Italia I parte: struttura generale e pianificazione a livello nazionale e regionale.

Il lavoro prende in esame lo stato attuale della pianificazione forestale in Italia ai diversi livelli. Prendendo spunto dalle normative introdotte dalla Unione Europea, vengono esaminati gli strumenti a livello nazionale, regionale, sovraziendale e aziendale nonche i principali momenti della loro attuazione nelle diverse realta. Si pone l’attenzione anche sulla necessita di piani a livello territoriale e sull’opportunita di adottare, per il livello aziendale, uno strumento, il piano di gestione, che prenda in considerazione aspetti e valori d’uso della risorsa per un approccio volto all’applicazione della selvicoltura sistemica. In questa prima parte viene esaminata la problematica generale, l’impostazione normativa e la pianificazione a livello nazionale e regionale, con il quadro dello stato attuale tra le diverse regioni.

The Halaesa landscape (III B.C.) as ancient example of the complex and bio-diverse traditional Mediterranean polycultural landscape

ABSTRACT Southern Europe and the whole Mediterranean area are distinguished by landscape types whose characters result from countless, long and complex cultural and historical processes that developed in an equally complex and varied environment. The Mediterranean rural landscape would keep these same distinctive characteristics until the crisis of the mixed crops, and the phenomena of urbanisation in the1960s/70s. This paper identifies the characteristics of the Mediterranean polycultural and polyspecific (coltura promiscua) landscape, characterised by the presence of trees (both wild and cultivated), starting from a historical overview of the central Mediterranean. The analysed case-study of the Halaesa landscape (Sicily), as one of the first historical detailed descriptions of a complex Mediterranean cultural landscape, is the result of a polycultural agro-silvo-pastoral system which guarantees complexity and richness (in terms of structural and biological diversity), as well as with reference to others environmental, cultural and economic multi-functionality. The analysis of these polycultural landscapes reveals a rich spatial configuration and the patchiness of the land mosaic. The presence of historical features, of traditional crops and land use, of traditional land management, and the conservation of the rural architecture and other material cultural heritage related to agricultural activity, as well as the non-material cultural heritage, are particularly important aspects considered by international and European organisations towards their valorisation and conservation. The pressure on these landscapes and their rapid transformation into more modern forms call out for a better knowledge of the more complex forms of traditional land use and their relative rural landscapes.

Mapping and assessment of forest ecosystems and their services - Applications and guidance for decision making in the framework of MAES

The aim of this report is to illustrate by means of a series of case studies the implementation of mapping and assessment of forest ecosystem services in different contexts and geographical levels. Methodological aspects, data issues, approaches, limitations, gaps and further steps for improvement are analysed for providing good practices and decision making guidance. The EU initiative on Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES), with the support of all Member States, contributes to improve the knowledge on ecosytem services. MAES is one of the building-block initiatives supporting the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2000.

The Traditional Mediterranean Polycultural Landscape as Cultural Heritage: Its Origin and Historical Importance, Its Agro-Silvo-Pastoral Complexity and the Necessity for Its Identification and Inventory

Today, the Mediterranean is characterized by landscape patterns whose compositions result from countless, long and complex cultural and historical processes. However, the pressure on these landscapes and their rapid transformation into more modern forms call out for a better knowledge of the more complex forms of traditional land use and relative landscapes. In this context, an identification and clarification of the role of such mixed and complex forms of agro-forestry systems and landscapes, named “giardino Mediterraneo” (“Mediterranean garden”) is necessary. This term is often applied to and associated with numerous different agricultural and agro-forestry systems as well as to numerous different kinds of rural landscapes, due to the complex and intricate historical process that has led to their identification and cultural evolution over time. This study identifies the characteristics of the polycultural and polyspecific Mediterranean garden’s landscape, characterized by the presence of trees (both wild and cultivated), starting from a historical overview of Sicily. The analysed Halaesa landscape (Sicily) case study, as one of the first historical detailed description of a complex Mediterranean cultural landscape, is the result of a polycultural agro-silvo-pastoral system which guarantees complexity and richness (in terms of structural and biological diversity), as well as with reference to others environmental, cultural and economic multifunctionality. However, a comparison with the typological systems currently used for the cataloguing and mapping of traditional Mediterranean landscapes at different scales shows the transversal importance of polycultural Mediterranean garden landscapes, and demonstrates how much a better definition and characterization of them is needed.