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Biomass is an important energy feedstock and an alternative to fossil fuel. The development of biomass-based supply chains and energy conversion plants has to be calibrated to reflect local sustainability criteria. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of a biomass-based district heating plant (DHP) and a combined heat and power plant (CHP) in Italy. The sustainability assessment was developed using three criteria: proximity between biomass and the energy producer and consumer; value added, employment, and impact of biomass supply chains; and environmental impacts. For each criterion, a set of sustainability metrics was developed and tested in two case studies in Northern Italy (Sarentino DHP and Cavalese CHP). The results suggested that the DHP and CHP (1) were supplied with local biomass residues located at distances of 11 km and 20 km, respectively; (2) provided energy to 55% and 83% of the total local population, respectively; (3) generated a value added of approximately €2 million and €1 million, created 4 and 8 local green jobs, and dedicated 52% and 64% of their external costs to the local biomass supply chain (wood production, transformation, and transport), respectively; and (4) contributed to the impact category of global warming potential with 7.6 gCO2eq./MJ (compared to 70–90 gCO2eq./MJ from fossil-fueled DHP) and 62 gCO2eq./MJeu (compared to 100–300 gCO2eq./MJeu from fossil-fueled CHP), respectively.

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Abstract. Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) should be able to produce an optimal level of bundle of Ecosystem Services (ES), thus ensuring more resilient forest ecosystems and creating benefits for local population and human well-being. Yet, choosing between alternative forest management practices is not straightforward as it necessarily involves ES trade-offs. Forest management decisions have to reconcile the socio-economic and ecological contributions of forest ecosystems by fostering a synergistic relation between multiple ES while lowering ES trade-offs. The aim of the study is to analyze different forest management practices (selective and traditional thinning) in black pine peri-urban forest in Central Italy, by investigating their contribution in terms of provisioning (wood production), cultural (recreational benefits) and regulating (climate change mitigation) ES. For each management option was performed: (1) a biophysical assessment of selected ES by using primary data and calculating indicators for wood production with special regard to biomass for energy use (living trees and deadwood volume harvested), recreational benefits (tourists' preferences for each forest management practice), climate change mitigation (carbon sequestration in above-ground and below-ground biomass), and (2) an economic valuation of wood production, recreational benefits and climate change mitigation ES using direct and indirect methods (environmental evaluation techniques). The results show that the effects of the selective thinning on ES are higher that the effects of the traditional thinning. The economic value of the three ES provided by traditional and selective thinning are respectively: bioenergy production 154. and 36.2 € ha -1 yr -1 . The integrated (biophysical and economic) assessment of ES in addition to the trade-off analysis can provide multi-perspective insights for forest policy makers and can be included as a part of the local forest management plans.

Invasive alien plants have a long history of establishment in the national parks of South Africa.In particular, Opuntia stricta (sour prickly pear) has invaded several protected areas in thecountry, threatening the biodiversity conservation mandate of these conservation areas. Thisarticle focuses on the economic estimation of O. stricta’s negative impacts in protected areas byusing Contingent Valuation surveys conducted amongst a sample of tourists in the PilanesbergNational Park (North West Parks and Tourism Board, South Africa). Tourists’ familiarity andawareness of selected invasive alien plants and their willingness to pay for the implementationof a control programme for O. stricta were assessed. The results show that many tourists arefamiliar with invasive alien plants and their (positive and negative) impacts and, in particular,perceived the presence of O. stricta to be negative, due to the impacts on aesthetics and recreation.Socio-demographic characteristics, as well as individual attitudes and biocentric beliefs, have aninfluence on the willingness to contribute financially to a control programme for O. stricta. Theindividual willingness to pay assessment found that the majority of respondents (78%) werewilling to pay a higher entrance fee (an additional R57.30 or $7.00 per day) for a hypotheticalprogramme to control the invasion of O. stricta in the Pilanesberg National Park.Conservation implications: The willingness of tourists to pay for O. stricta managementprovides useful insights in the decision-making process of park management. The resultsare encouraging, since, in general, tourists are aware of the problem and are in support ofproviding additional economic input for preventing future alien plant invasions.

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Bioenergy has a key role in the European Union (EU) policy aimed at enhancing energy security and mitigating climate change. In the implementation of EU policy at national, and—especially—at regional and local levels, the inclusion of stakeholders' opinions is crucial to increase social acceptance and to reduce conflicts between the parties. This study analyzes stakeholders' opinions of biomass-based energy development at the local level (Sarentino valley, South Tyrol region, Italy) by using the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)-AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) approach. SWOT-AHP methodology was implemented in three stages: stakeholders analysis, identification of the SWOT factors, and evaluation of the SWOT factors. Strategic factors were evaluated using the outcomes of a questionnaire administered to five groups of stakeholders (public administrations, NGO and associations, academia, farmers, and forest-wood chain actors). The results showed a firm prevalence for the strengths (33.3%) and opportunities (32.9%) over the potential threats (18.8%) and weaknesses (15%) of the actual bioenergy supply chain in Sarentino valley. SWOT-AHP methodology could be useful in the development and implementation of a local and regional participatory decision making process in the forest-wood-energy supply chain as it can provide structural and quantified analysis of the subjective preferences of the stakeholders.

IntroduzioneNel corso degli ultimi decenni, il settore bioenergetico ha ricoperto una sempre crescente importanza nella politica energetica dell'Unione Europea (UE) al fine di diminuire la dipendenza dei paesi membri dall'importazione di combustibili fossili (energy security -Egenhofer et al. 2011, Bentsen & Felby 2012, di diversificare l'offerta energetica (Moiseyev et al. it).Abstract: SWOT-AHP as an inclusive analytical tool of the forest-wood-energy chain: the case study of the Sarntal (South Tyrol). In the last years, the use of forest biomass for energy purpose is steadily increasing to tackle energy security issues and to mitigate climate change by stabilizing greenhouse gases (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere. In Italy, the new National Energy Strategy established that the renewable energy must cover 20% of gross energy demand by 2020. In order to achieve this objective the forest biomass could be of fundamental importance. In this context of increasing extraction of wood residues from forests, it is relevant to analyse two key aspects: (1) the involvement of stakeholders in the strategy for the valorization of forestwood-energy chain at local level; and (2) the potential impacts of increased forest biomass extraction on environment. This paper analyses these two aspects through the stakeholders' opinions in a case study in the Alto Adige (Sarentino valley). Stakeholders' opinions concerning the analysis of SWOT categories (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) of the bioenergy supply chain were investigated using the SWOT-AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) approach. The results show that the local stakeholders emphasize some strengths (e.g., additional income over time for private forest owners) and opportunities (e.g., development of shared forest management strategies among small forest owners) of forest-wood-energy chain, and consider less relevant the weaknesses and threats. The results concerning one of most important potential threatsimpacts on environment -show that all groups of stakeholders (public administrations, associations and NGO, research bodies and universities, and actors of rural sector) consider positive the impacts of increased forest biomass extraction on recreational activities and negative on other three ecosystem services (carbon sequestration, hydrogeological protection, and biodiversity).