Terraced landscapes are important to the cultural and environmental characteristics of many regions worldwide. Accurate and comprehensive documentation of these landscapes is challenging, especially ...when inventorying dry-stone walled terraced landscapes and abandoned agricultural terraces. Even inventory methods based on LIDAR and fieldwork do not capture all of the mapped information. To address this challenge, the study proposed the inclusion of additional data sources into the inventory process, specifically aerial photographs from drones and photographs taken with advanced GPS devices. The combination of already-tested methods and other data sources enabled a more comprehensive and accurate inventory process. The improved methodology was tested in three cadastral municipalities of the Vipava Valley (Črniče, Gojače and Vrtovin), where the terraces have predominantly dry-stone risers with different heights. A large percentage of the terraced landscape in the selected cadastral municipalities is abandoned, so the terraced structures are overgrown by vegetation and forest; in Gojače, almost half of the terraced landscape is like this. In some places, the terraced landscape has become almost completely unrecognizable. With an improved inventory methodology, both active and abandoned agricultural terraces can be mapped.
During 25 October 2011, an extremely intense rainfall event occurred in Eastern Liguria and Northern Tuscany. Severe damages were registered in the Monterosso and Vernazza basins, located in the ...famous area of Cinque Terre, which have been affected by hundreds of landslides, mud flows, and erosions. The main feature of the Cinque Terre landscape is the presence of terraced cultivations on steep slopes facing the sea. The area represents a remarkable cultural landscape, is a National Park, and is included in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO. This work aims to analyze the effect of abandoned terraced land on hydrogeological risks and in landslide prevention, by comparing what happened in Cinque Terre to other experiences presented in scientific literature. The cessation of maintenance of dry stone terraces due to the crisis of traditional agriculture was identified as the main cause of failure during the heavy rainfall event. However, we found some contrasting and, in some cases, unexpected results in the literature regarding the effects of the vegetation that develops on abandoned terraces. This paper compares different results in order to better understand what the future of terraced landscapes is and which are the best management strategies for such complex and fragile territories. In particular, where they represent a cultural heritage and a resource for the rural economy.
•Dazhai Terrace landscapes in Southwest China were maintained well.•The high income from agricultural multi-functional development drives local villagers to maintain continually terraces.•Reasonable ...benefit distribution mechanisms promote multi-stakeholders to jointly develop multi-function of Dazhai Terraces.
Agricultural landscapes in mountainous areas are facing the destruction due to farmland abandonment. A sustainable conservation mechanism is needed urgently for the rural areas in these places. Dazhai terraces of Longji Terraces, Southwest China are maintained well based on agricultural multi-functions developed by multi-stakeholders. From the perspective of household economics, this study examined the income structure of households in Dazhai and estimated every household’s income based on the collected data via semi-structural interviews and the statistical data. In Dazhai, the income of households is mainly comprised of agricultural income, compensation for maintaining terraces (CMT), tourism income dividend (TID) and income of local non-farm jobs (IINJ). The IINJ and the TID constitute the most and the second more part of the household incomes, respectively, which account for 70.8% and 17.8% of the total household incomes. The agricultural income just plays a slight role in improving the household incomes. 97.7% of households in Dazhai earn a higher income a year from the agricultural multi-functions than those migrant workers in the region. The sustainable high income from terraced multi-functions is the main driving force to maintain Dazhai terraces. The multi-functions of Dazhai terraces are developed jointly by local governments, companies and villagers. More importantly, these stakeholders’ cooperation rests on the reasonable benefit distribution principles between companies and Dazhai and among villagers in Dazhai. In sum, the benefit distribution mechanisms drive multiple stakeholders to maintain terraced landscapes directly or indirectly.
The terrace, used by different cultures and at different points in history, is the tool that has allowed the cultivation and inhabitation of territories dominated by a steep slope, until then only ...useful for collecting wild fruit and/or firewood, grazing and hunting. These high furrows allowed the rewards of the mountain to be reaped until they were replaced by different economic drivers and technology which, evidently or not, continued to advance. The objective of this article is to address the problems which abandoning this agricultural technique entailed from the specific perspective of an environment where dry conditions and new exploitation and settlement practices enhanced the erosion of these horizontal lines from memory. An analysis was undertaken with a strong graphic and cartographic component, using sketches as one of the fundamental tools for considering the landscape, constructing it, restoring it and intervening in it. The images are able to draw together, identify and reveal realities which otherwise remain invisible, producing connections between existing strata from very different periods and allowing potential solutions for the present state of a degraded territory to be drawn from this purposeful analysis.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.22.2019.30
In Italy, agricultural intensification and the abandonment of rural areas since the 1960s has led to a transformation of the traditional agricultural landscape, bringing with it a series of ...environmental and socio-economic issues and problems such as those linked to hydrogeological instability, a reduction in biocultural diversity and migration to urban centres, especially of the younger population. These phenomena have also led to a progressive loss of all the cultural and traditional practices related to these systems, thus contributing to a homogenization of the landscape structure due to abandonment. On the other hand, in the last years, we are witnessing a return to rural and traditional practices with the aim of recovering local cultures, especially those associated to agricultural practices, and to a more sustainable management of the territory. Vallecorsa, a municipality in central Italy, is one of the landscapes inscribed in the Italian National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes and it is still characterized by traditional agricultural practices that provide multiple benefits also in ecological terms, maintaining a specific level of biodiversity, interpreted as part of the biocultural diversity of the area. The aim of the present research is to analyse the structure of the traditional landscape of Vallecorsa and to determine its main characteristics, using landscape as the scale. Through the use of GIS software, by means of photo-interpretation and the use of DTM, the present study analyses the structure of land use, and in particular of terraced surfaces, and the associated data on area size, fragmentation, altitude and slope. The results take into account the diversity of land uses and mosaic patches, as well as terraced surfaces, and their distribution in the territory, relating them to the local biodiversity, in particular that of dry stone walls.
Stone wall terraces are a largely investigated topic in research for both their landscape and cultural/historical value. Terraces are anthropogenic landforms that interact with natural processes and ...need permanent maintenance to preserve their functionality. In the Mediterranean region, ground effects related to intense rain events often involve terraced slopes that, in some situations, are directly sourced areas of debris/mud flow. Starting from the 1950s, the changing socio-economic conditions caused the abandonment of large portions of rural areas. Nowadays, at the catchment scale, it is frequently difficult recognizing stone wall terraces because of their abandonment and the uncontrolled re-vegetation. This research faces the issue of identifying terraces in the Monte di Portofino promontory, which is internationally famous for its high-value natural and landscape involving broad anthropogenic modifications dating back to the Middle Ages. A remote sensing application, with LIDAR data and orthophotography, identified terraces on the Portofino promontory, enabling investigating even barely accessible areas and increasing knowledge on the territory. The aim of this paper is first of all to point out the presence of such anthropogenic morphologies in the promontory of Monte di Portofino and then to asses and highlight the related hazard. In fact, terraces can be a source of debris/hyper-concentrated flow with highly damaging power, as occurred in the recent years in neighboring areas during particularly intense hydrological events. Then, terraced area mapping, including in use and in abandonment information, is crucial to perform a spatial relationship analysis that includes hazard-exposed elements and to evaluate the possible connectivity factor of buildings, infrastructures, tourism facilities and Cultural Heritage within the hydrographical network.
The presence of roads in high steep agricultural systems is often linked with landslides occurrence. This research aims to model multi-temporal overland flow dynamics in a shallow landslides-prone ...terraced landscape (northern Italy).The combined use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) and photogrammetric techniques (e.g., Structure from Motion-SfM) allowed to elaborate multi-temporal high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). Hydrological analyses of water flow's depth alterations due to the road presence were carried out adopting the SIMulated Water Erosion model (SIMWE), focusing on different scenarios considering the presence of the road and assuming its absence through a specific DEM smoothing procedure. The possibility to perform multi-temporal hydrological simulations at a hillslope scale so as to analyse the role played by the road in overland flows alteration is still a challenge to be investigated. Results proved the role played by the road in water flows change above the two observed shallow landslides, with respective maximum water depth values equal to 0.18 m and 0.14 m. On the contrary, no-road simulations not revealed significant water flows deviations towards landslides, with water depth values around 0 m, underlining that the absence of the road would avoid relevant changes in water flow paths toward the collapsed surfaces. This work could be a solid starting point for analyse road impact on runoff dynamics and hillslopes stability also at a wider scale, as well as for planning efficient mitigation intervention so as to reduce the occurrence of similar future scenarios.
The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) program, promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), recognizes the multifunctional role of agricultural heritage systems. ...Traditional terraced landscapes represent important touristic destinations, and Chianti is one of the most well-known areas of Italy for rural tourism. The high-quality landscape of Lamole, consisting of forests and terraced agricultural areas, is included in the Italian National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes thanks to local farmers who recently restored the traditional landscape, considering it important both for tourism and product quality. The main aim of this research was to investigate, using anonymous questionnaires, whether tourists are aware of the characteristics of the Lamole landscape in comparison with other parts of Chianti. Results show that tourists clearly express their preference for the traditional landscape, which is comprised of a mosaic of agricultural patches with dry-stone terraces and forests, and that the level of landscape diversification is similar to 180 years ago. As tourism is a major resource, public institutions should support farmers in preserving the traditional landscape, investing in paths and information, as requested by tourists. The methodology has proved to be useful for addressing local planning, and to help farmers to achieve sustainable development in well-known touristic rural areas.
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