L'approccio partecipativo nella pianificazione forestale

Abstract: The paper stresses the importance of public participation in natural resources planning and management, with particular concern for forest planning. The function of participation is defined, main methods and tools are reviewed, pointing out, for each of them, the possibility of application in participatory forest planning. Finally opportunities and limits of the participatory approach are taken into consideration particularly concerning the Italian situation

Assessment of Forest Biomass and Carbon Stocks at Stand Level Using Site-Specific Primary Data to Support Forest Management

To quantify and map woody biomass (WB) and forest carbon (C) stocks, several models were developed. They differ in terms of scale of application, details related to the input data required and outputs provided. Local Authorities, such as Mountain Communities, can be supported in sustainable forest planning and management by providing specific models in which the reference unit is the same as the one reported in the Forest Management Plans (FMP), i.e. the forest stand. In the Lombardy Region (Northern Italy), a few studies were performed to assess WB and forest C stocks, and they were generally based on data coming from regional\u2014or national\u2014forest inventories and remote sensing, without taking into account data collected in the FMPs. For this study, the first version of the stand-level model \u201cWOody biomass and Carbon ASsessment\u201d (WOCAS) for WB and C stocks calculation was improved into a second version (WOCAS v2) and preliminary results about its first application to 2019 forest stands of Valle Camonica District (Lombardy Region) are presented. Since the model WOCAS uses the growing stock as the main driver for the calculation, it can be applied in any other forest area where the same input data are available

the effects of climate change on the multifunctional role of basilicata s forests the effects induced on yield and co2 absorption

The first studies on the possible impact of climate change on European forests and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies began in the 1990s and resulted in the identification of risk assessment models and forest management tools. The prediction of climate change impacts on forests has been based using the evidence theory or Dempster-Shafer (DS)'s theory, appropriately spatialised. The implemented evidence lines refer to the concepts of vulnerability and resilience. The results of the DS model, applied to the Basilicata region, were utilised to assess the loss in biomass production capacity and CO2 absorption ability of different forest-derived biomasses. The loss in stumpage value and in the estimated CO2 absorption shows a reduction over time of forest system's economic value that is basically higher in 2050 than in 2100. The applied methodological approach has shown that the high degree of spatial and information detail may be helpful to produce good predictions to envisage environmental policy strategies for the monitoring and mitigation of the damages caused by the climate change, with a view to ensuring the ecosystems' capacity to produce positive externalities, including air carbon sequestration capacity

Sustainable planning: The carrying capacity approach

The housing need forecast that has to be adopted in local housing policy and land use zoning is today the subject of significant disputes that intersect urban planning and sociological, demographic and geographical aspects. The main contrast is between those who propose a limiting approach based on the need to guarantee the sustainability of urban settlements and those who, conversely, believe that this policy is the cause of significant gentrification, especially in areas where tourist pressure is added to the housing one. A more coherent approach provides for the definition of the territorial carrying capacity on the basis of an adequate number of convenience indicators whose number and characteristics depend on both objectives set and context in which it operates. The thesis of a Research Project carried out at the Department of Architecture of the Federico II University of Naples is that this approach, applied to degraded Mediterranean metropolitan suburbs, allows substantial improvements in the ecological and social qualities of urban settlements, transforming the anthropic pressure from detractor into driver for increasing urban sustainability. This paper illustrates the results of the Research Project achieved with the application of the carrying capacity approach in the town plan project of a medium-small municipality in the metropolitan suburbs of Naples