The production management of hazelnuts in province of Cuneo, under a system dynamics approach. How the dormice affect its performance.

The production of hazelnuts represents an important resource in several Italian rural areas.SicilyandPiedmont, one of the most important producers of hazelnuts, are affected by the presence of a rodent (Glis Glis), which has reduced considerably the production of hazelnuts. The study aims to analyze the complexity of dynamic relations between dormice and hazelnuts production in cases of high proliferation by using systems dynamics taking as an example the case of the province of Cuneo, a local area of piedmont, where through a project of local Public Governance, the policymakers were able to counteract the damage of the dormice. The analysis of the implemented policies was developed by using System Dynamics (SD) methodology (FORRESTER,1969; STERMAN,2000; FORD,2009; BIANCHI,2016). An SD microworld was developed to define the conceptual relations between hazelnut production and dormice, then through the analysis of the results of the simulations, it's been possible to show the effect of reduction policies on the performance of hazelnuts production. This study could help to steer the decision-makers to implement a set of optimal policies to counteract the high proliferation of dormice in other local areas.