History of the Italian Forest Landscape

The book explain the history of the italian forest landscape from preroman times to the present. The aim is to demonstrate that all the Italian forest have been shaped by human activities through the centuries and they are an important component of the Italian cultural landscape. The content 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 need of the 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( eg. 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 climate crisis is also considered as well as case studies related to specific management forms as those related to fires. Management methods such 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 on abandoned farmed land.