History of the Italian Forest Landscape

About this book

This book examines the history of the Italian forest landscape from pre-Roman times to the present. The aim is to demonstrate that all Italian forests have been shaped by human activities through the centuries, and they are an important component of the Italian cultural landscape. This book explores case studies from the north to the south of Italy, explaining how human activities shaped extension, density, species composition and structure of the forests in order to meet the needs of society, as well as influencing their ecological features. Timber, fuel wood, charcoal production, as well as shipbuilding, are taken into consideration, but also forest managed for food production (e.g., Chestnut forests, wood pastures, pine forests).

Cases such as Venice and the silviculture developed by monasteries are described. The history of the afforestation made by the Italian state in response to the climate crisis is also considered, as well as case studies related to specific management forms as those related to fires. Management methods such as high stand and coppice are explained, addressing also the many different traditional practices adopted by the local populations (selective cutting, pollarding, shredding, etc.). The book also shows how forests have doubled their extension since the Second World War on abandoned farmed land.

Contents

- Introduction
- The domestication of natural landscape
- Sylvae, saltus and lucus
- Wood pastures and pastured woods
- Woods for shipbuilding
- Forest for timber
- Monastic silviculture
- Forest of the plains and afforestation on the mountains
- The chestnut civilization
- Woods and charcoal
- The woodlands in the age of the extremes

Customer Reviews

Biography

Prof. Mauro Agnoletti is the Holder of the UNESCO Chair "Agricultural Heritage Landscapes" of the University of Florence, Italy. He wrote about 250 scientific papers and 25 books and was ranked among the most influential researchers by PLOS Biology (2019-2022). He is Vice President of the International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE), co-editor in chief of "Global Environmental, Journal of Interdisciplinary History", and editor of the Springer series on Environmental History. He started his career at the Institute of Forest Ecology at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Florence, researching the historical relationships between man and forest. Between 2005-2014, he coordinated the research group "Forest History and Traditional Knowledge" of the International Union of Forest Research Organization (IUFRO). He was one of the cofounders and Vice President (2005-2009) of the European Society for Environmental History (ESEH) and cofounder of the South American and Caribbean Society of Environmental History (SOLCHA). He is an expert on the UNESCO World Heritage List and the European Landscape Convention (Council of Europe).

During his career, he transferred several research activities into agricultural and forest policies. In 2007, he coordinated the IUFRO Guidelines for the Implementation of Social and Cultural Values in Sustainable Forest Management, promoted by the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE). He coordinated the "Landscape Strategy" of the Italian National Plan for Rural Development (2007-2013) and the establishment of the National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes, Agricultural Practices and Traditional Knowledge. In 2014, he coordinated the UNESCO-CBD declaration on the linkages between cultural and biological diversity. From 2015 to 2021, he chaired the Scientific Advisory Group of the FAO program on agricultural heritage systems (GIAHS). In 2024, he chaired the commission for the law protecting forests having cultural and historical values, for the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forests. In 2024, he received the Distinguished Service Award from IUFRO.