A landscape project for the coexistence of agriculture and nature: a proposal for the coastal area of a Natura 2000 site in Sicily (Italy)

Submitted: 20 October 2015
Accepted: 21 February 2016
Published: 10 June 2016
Abstract Views: 2386
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Authors

Many rural coastal Mediterranean areas suffer from great anthropomorphic pressure. This is due to intensive agriculture, and construction for residential, tourism and industrial uses. The present work investigates the idea of using a landscape project in the Gulf of Gela in South Sicily to recover the dunes and the area behind them. The method used is based on the literature and will evaluate and interpret the dynamics of the landscape, so as to draw up a landscape plan, which can be used to help sustain the assets of the area, in a way, which is compatible with conserving nature. This method was tested in the LIFE11-Leopoldia project, funded by the European Union. The results of the study form part of the landscape project. This project is aimed at connecting the different productive zones in the area, protecting the natural environments and the rural historical patrimony, through combining the modern road networks with the older slower, historic infrastructure. Three different levels of landscape management are proposed: total protection (the dunes), high-level protection (the area behind the dunes where traditional agriculture is practised, buffer areas and ecological connecting areas), medium levels of protection (sustainable agriculture, green connections and ecological corridors). The key aims of the project are as follows: transversality - repairing the agricultural fabric and the relationship between the land and the sea; sustainability - recovering the environmental system and traditional activities; flexibility - agriculture with only minor environmental impact.

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Supporting Agencies

This paper has been prepared within the project LIFE11 NAT/IT/232, funded by the European Union
Lara Riguccio, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania

Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione ed Ambiente

Researcher

Laura Carullo, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania

Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione ed Ambiente

Researcher

Patrizia Russo, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania

Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione ed Ambiente

Researcher

Giovanna Tomaselli, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania

Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione ed Ambiente

Full Professor: AGR/10 Building and Land Engineering

Board member of AIIA

How to Cite

Riguccio, L., Carullo, L., Russo, P. and Tomaselli, G. (2016) “A landscape project for the coexistence of agriculture and nature: a proposal for the coastal area of a Natura 2000 site in Sicily (Italy)”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 47(2), pp. 61–71. doi: 10.4081/jae.2016.518.