Environmental politics in a highland Sardinian community

Abstract

The movement to protect wilderness resources can conflict with local intentions for land use and development, particularly in economically marginal areas. In rural Italy, on the island of Sardinia, the plan to create a Gennargentu National Park has incited active opposition on the part of the communities affected. In the town of Baunei, responses to environmental legislation are motivated by the desire to maintain communal control over common lands. Political action, both formal and informal, is organised by local understandings about the impact of certain laws and institutions on the town economy, principally by the restriction of residents' usi civici (traditional rights of usufruct). This thesis considers the role and meaning of the usi civici in Baunei, and the implications of this for environmental politics in Sardinia