The terraced systems are considered "the most important system of landscape organization in the Mediterranean" (United Nations, 1994) and represent a Cultural and Natural Heritage to be safeguarded and enhanced. Today, the need for protection of cultural agricultural landscapes, and especially of terraced landscapes, is faced with the diseconomies of traditional farming practices carried out in areas not easily accessible and at high geological risk, where the risk of abandonment of Cultural Heritage is closely linked to transformation of the socio-economic context. The objective of this work, carried out as part of the Research Doctorate in "Evaluation Methods for Integrated Conservation, Restoration, Management and Maintenance of Architectural, Urban and Environmental Heritage", is the testing of a methodology for classifying and mapping agricultural areas at risk of abandonment in the terraced cultural landscapes. The classification adopted takes into account the characteristics of areas in relation to parameters such as altitude, steepness and land use, affecting the distribution and maintenance of terraced areas. The proposed methodology is aimed at the classification of terraced areas on levels of risk of abandonment, using spatial data readily available or transferable to GIS, such as the Corine Land Cover, the Regional Technical Maps indicating the elevations, Maps of the Agricultural Use of Soils on a regional basis. The methodology is applied in the area of the Amalfi Coast, cultural landscape included in the World Heritage List UNESCO. Results show that it is possible to locate and classify terraced areas based on the risk of abandonment by using GIS tools integrated into a system of multi-criteria evaluation, scalable and replicable in other terraced contexts. The resulting maps can be used in the field of landscape planning to identify the geographical areas that are more vulnerable in terms of maintenance and conservation of traditional land uses, including for the protection from hydrological risk (ISPRA, 2013).
GIS tools for mapping and classification of agricultural areas at risk of abandonment in terraced cultural landscapes
Antonia Gravagnuolo;
2016
Abstract
The terraced systems are considered "the most important system of landscape organization in the Mediterranean" (United Nations, 1994) and represent a Cultural and Natural Heritage to be safeguarded and enhanced. Today, the need for protection of cultural agricultural landscapes, and especially of terraced landscapes, is faced with the diseconomies of traditional farming practices carried out in areas not easily accessible and at high geological risk, where the risk of abandonment of Cultural Heritage is closely linked to transformation of the socio-economic context. The objective of this work, carried out as part of the Research Doctorate in "Evaluation Methods for Integrated Conservation, Restoration, Management and Maintenance of Architectural, Urban and Environmental Heritage", is the testing of a methodology for classifying and mapping agricultural areas at risk of abandonment in the terraced cultural landscapes. The classification adopted takes into account the characteristics of areas in relation to parameters such as altitude, steepness and land use, affecting the distribution and maintenance of terraced areas. The proposed methodology is aimed at the classification of terraced areas on levels of risk of abandonment, using spatial data readily available or transferable to GIS, such as the Corine Land Cover, the Regional Technical Maps indicating the elevations, Maps of the Agricultural Use of Soils on a regional basis. The methodology is applied in the area of the Amalfi Coast, cultural landscape included in the World Heritage List UNESCO. Results show that it is possible to locate and classify terraced areas based on the risk of abandonment by using GIS tools integrated into a system of multi-criteria evaluation, scalable and replicable in other terraced contexts. The resulting maps can be used in the field of landscape planning to identify the geographical areas that are more vulnerable in terms of maintenance and conservation of traditional land uses, including for the protection from hydrological risk (ISPRA, 2013).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
