Returning to Integrated Landscape Management as an Approach to Counteract Land Degradation in Small Mediterranean Islands: The Case Study of Stromboli (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy)
Author(s)
Date Issued
2024
Type
article
Volume
13
Journal
Abstract
The small Mediterranean islands, unique geographical places where coastlines and mountains
converge due to volcanic genesis, are among the most threatened environments on Earth. Their
marginality, which has historically led to their use as places of detention and punishment, coupled
with the extreme climate and rugged geomorphology shaped by terracing practices, has resulted
in the loss of systematic land management. This loss stems from the abandonment of cropland in
favor of alternative activities and migrations, impacting essential ecosystem services such as the
water cycle, soil fertility, and the cultural landscape. The need to counteract the land degradation
in these vulnerable areas has been acknowledged for some Mediterranean small islands, including
the UNESCO heritage site of Stromboli in the Aeolian Islands, Sicily, Italy—an especially captivating
location due to its active volcano. The agricultural abandonment on terraces, intensively cultivated
with olives groves and vineyards until the mid-20th century, has rendered the area highly fragile
and susceptible to risks such as fires and soil erosion, particularly as a consequence of extreme
weather events, as proven in 2022, which saw a destructive fire followed by storms. To mitigate
the negative effects of hydrogeological disruptions, the implementation of integrated landscape
management—managing ecosystems at the landscape level—has been proposed. Specifically, an
agroforestry intervention, coupled with the restoration of dry stone walls, the shaping of soil slopes
by recovering the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), and the design of water-collecting devices
incorporated with the traditional hydraulic knowledge, may be proposed as a strategic approach to
minimize the soil erosion risks, adapt to climate change, and extensively restore the use of traditional
agrobiodiversity to support the local economy and tourism. A pilot intervention by local stakeholders
based on these principles is described as an emblematic agrobiodiversity-based landscape
design project in a vulnerable area, aiming at the preservation of the cultural landscapes of the small
Mediterranean islands.
Subjects
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