International Exchange of Experts on Rural Economy Development to Support and Increase Landscapes and Forests Resilience in Central Sardinia

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Event start date
Badde Salighes, Central Sardinia

*Please note this event is postponed*

During thousands of years, Sardinia, as other Mediterranean regions, developed a socioecological mosaic landscape composed by agriculture, forest and shrublands. Nowadays, the idea of mosaic is still considered as one of the best infrastructures to mitigate the impact of natural hazards, such as wildfires, pests and flooding.

However, in the last 60 years, the migrations due to industrialization from rural to urban areas, caused a devaluation of rural economies and led to rural abandonment. The impacts of this abandonment are still very visible in the land, thus dense forest and shrublands now occupy the traditionally managed landscapes. These unmanaged lands generate a much higher risk, e.g. of large wildfires, for rural communities and for urban population living in wildland urban interfaces under highly vulnerable conditions. Understanding the way societies need to co-exist with natural risks, enhancing risk mitigation from a bottom-up approach, encouraging actions done by local communities and discussing the best way to apply traditional land management, are key actions needed in order to improve risk management. To succeed, all these actions shall be linked to a sustainable economic model that is not only based in the economic values, but a model that includes other values contributing to build resilient landscapes and societies.

For 4 days, participants from across Europe will exchange experiences about effective land management techniques that aim at developing sustainable local bioeconomy and support risk reduction. The camp will be a great opportunity to participate in the discussions on how to generate added value in rural environments, as a combination of agriculture, tourism, forestry and grazing. All with the ultimate purpose of taking local action to enhance risk mitigation, rather waiting for a response to natural disasters. The camp is also an opportunity to get hands-on experience on a combination of techniques used for management of Mediterranean landscape and forest (i.e. prescribed fire)

Find out more here.