Orchestrating Forest Policy in Italy: Mission Impossible?

In the Italian political and economic agenda the forest sector occupies a marginal role. The forest sector in Italy is characterized by a high institutional fragmentation and centralized decision-making processes dominated by Public Forest Administrations. Public participation in forest policy processes has been implemented since the 1990s at national, regional and local levels in several cases. However, today no significant changes have been observed in the overall governance of the forest sector and stakeholders' involvement in Italian forest policy decision-making is still rather limited. The aims of this paper are to describe the state of forest-related participatory processes in Italy at various levels (national, regional and local) and identify which factors and actors hinder or support the establishment and implementation of participatory forest-related processes in the country. The forest-related participatory processes are analyzed adopting a qualitative-based approach and interpreting interactive, complex and non-linear participatory processes through the lens of panarchy theory

Extensive monitoring of Italian forests: integration of the National Forest Inventory with the European Network of Level I

Extensive monitoring of Italian forests: integration of the National Forest Inventory with the European Network of Level I. Forest monitoring is important for enhancing our knowledge on such ecosystems and their changes in order to enable actions helpful for their protection. At the European level, several monitoring programmes are carried out at present to pursue a better knowledge of specific characteristics of forests. Among those, national forest inventories are carried out to give a picture of their status (forest area, forest types, timber volume, growth and others), whereas health status of forests has been monitored over twenty years thanks to a specific programme, the ICP Forests. Under LIFE+ programme 2007, the FutMon project funded country-level studies aiming at evaluating the possibility to merge national forest inventory and Level I sample plots in a unique set of plots for forest monitoring and survey protocol. The underlying idea is that a common set of plots would enhance efficiency either in terms of costs or in terms of scientific results. However, an important issue is to preserve the validity of the twenty-years-long existing data series. For this reason in Italy, in 2009 and 2010, an experiment was carried out by measuring a common set of variables both in the Level I plots and in a subset of the inventory plots, in order to evaluate differences and similarities of surveying variables in the two different plot samples. More specifically, the integration between the two programmes would imply a change in the crown-condition sample-trees selection criteria and the shift of the Level I network to the inventory one. On the basis of the results, from 2012 the National Forest Inventory protocol for sample-trees selection has already been adopted on the Level I plots, whereas the feasibility of shifting the Level I plots from the ICP network to the National Forest Inventory one is still under evaluation

Ergonomics in Agriculture: Critical Postures, Gestures, and Perceived Effort in Handling Foldable Roll-Over Protective Structures (ROPS) Fitted on Tractors

Tractor overturn is the main cause of injuries and fatal accidents in agriculture. Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) showed to be effective in reducing fatalities during tractor overturn. Foldable ROPS (FROPS) have been developed to offer greater mobility when working in low overhead clearance zones and more storage options. However, many fatalities and serious injuries in tractor overturn accidents occur for a misuse of the FROPS. The study proposed a multidimensional ergonomic investigation of FROPS handling to identify criticalities in the human-machine interaction which prevent farmers from raising the roll-bar. An observation of users’ behaviors while operating the FROPS and a collection of subjective ratings about perceived effort were performed, considering also tractor objective features. Eleven operators and nine tractors were involved in the study. The results showed that the participants exposed themselves to different safety (e.g. falls) and health (e.g. biomechanical overload of the spine) risks when raising the FROPS, even though they did not perceive any intense effort in handling the roll-bar. The vertical distance between the FROPS pivot pin and the ground affected participants’ gestures and postures. To facilitate the actual use of the FROPS and to prevent injuries or fatal consequences in case of tractor overturn, some technical solutions to enhance the accessibility of the FROPS may be developed. Furthermore, the correct postures and gestures to handle the roll-bar should be addressed during safety and health training courses