Forest certification in Calabria (Italy): attitudes, preferences and willingness to pay of manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain.Forest certification was born in the early 90s of the twentieth century in order to protect tropical and sub-tropical forests against a progressive deforestation and degradation. Forest certification is a valuable instrument for environmental protection and a useful tool of green marketing for forestwood chain enterprises. In the last decades, in developed countries there has been increased consumer awareness of environmental protection and environmentally friendly wood products. This consumers' attitude is related to the consumers' willingness to pay a premium price for environmentally friendly wood products. In the international literature, some studies have investigated the consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for several certified wood products with different prices, while few studies have analyzed the willingness to pay of manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain for certified wood products. In addition, in the international literature there is a knowledge gap concerning the manufactures or consumers' willingness to pay for local wood products compared to equivalent products from other geographical areas. Starting from these considerations, the main aims of this study are: (1) to analyze the wood manufactures' willingness to pay a premium price for certified wood products; (2) to investigate the wood manufactures' attitudes and willingness to pay for regional/local wood products. The study was conducted as part of the "Ambi.Tec.Fil.Legno" project involving 127 manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain located in Calabria region. At the end of the questionnaire survey, the information provided by 40 manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain were processed and analyzed (response rate 31.5%). The results show that the main factors that influence the purchase decisions of enterprises are the trust in the seller and the durability of the product. Concerning the manufactures' willingness to pay for certified wood products, 40% of sample of manufactures is willing to pay a premium price with a mean value of 1.55%. A similar percentage of wood manufactures and enterprises (40%) are willing to pay a premium price to purchase local wood material with a mean value equal to 3.25%. The results of this study can support the decision makers in the definition of new strategies to enhance the forest sector in Calabria highlighting the potential benefits of forest certification and use of local wood at regional level.
IntroduzioneLa rete Natura 2000 è una rete ecologica istituita nei paesi dell'Unione Europea (UE) agli inizi degli anni '90 del secolo scorso. La rete ecologica è stata istituita con la Direttiva 92/43/CEE "Habitat" e dalla Direttiva 79/409/CE "Uccelli", quest'ultima recentemente abrogata e sostituita integralmente dalla Direttiva 2009/147/CE, con il fine prioritario di salvaguardare nel lungo periodo la biodiversità mediante la conservazione degli habitat naturali e seminatura- Consequently, each country has adopted a different participatory strategy taking into account the principles of integration approach. The integration approach is based on combining human activities and nature conservation purposes in the same area or, at least, in areas in close proximity. In Italy, the implementation of Natura 2000 network was developed at local level (Regions and Autonomous Provinces) using different approaches and procedures. Starting from these considerations, the aim of the study was to analyse the stakeholders' involvement process during the implementation of Habitats Directive in Italy and the management of Natura 2000 sites. This study was realized using three main criteria with the respective indicators: (1) inclusiveness of participatory process; (2) democracy of participatory process; (3) cooperation and conflicts during the implementation process of Natura 2000 network. The data were collected through the administration by email of a semi-structured questionnaire to 56 stakeholders divided in four main groups of interest (public administrations, universities and research centres, environmental associations, private organizations). The results of the survey show that the participatory process was characterized by a low level of inclusiveness despite the existence of some best practices at local level. In many cases, the decisions were taken by a low number of stakeholders -mostly public administrations -while the individuals of local community were only informed. Conversely, the results highlights as positive aspect the increasing level of trust among stakeholders after the Natura 2000 network implementation process.
Trees Outside Forests (TOF) inventory as a tool for landscape analysis and support for territorial planning.During the FAO Expert Consultation on Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (Kotka -Finland 1996), the importance of Trees Outside Forests (TOF) and the need for complete and detailed information about these stands were underlined for the first time. Since then and thanks to some pilot studies launched by FAO at the end of the ninenties, the international attention focused on three main topics: the definition of TOF and its classification (linear features, small woods, scattered and individual trees); the effective sampling methods to assess TOF, that are usually rare elements; the ecological role and the economic and social importance of TOF in industrialized and developing countries. Basing on these considerations, the sampling points of the second Italian National Forest Inventory (National Inventory of Forests and Carbon Sinks -INFC) intercepting small woods or linear features were recorded. Consequently, the INFC provides information about a substantial portion of the TOF of the country. Thanks to the availability of these data, a specific study was undertaken, aimed at improving information on TOF features and their role in the landscape. The present paper reports on the first results of this study for four regions of the Central Italy (Lazio, Marche, Toscana and Umbria), where the TOF are particularly significant. IntroduzioneAlberature stradali e di ripa, alberi sparsi, siepi e boschetti in campagna, parchi e giardini urbani costituiscono i principali elementi del territorio associati al concetto di "alberi fuori foresta" (AFF). Questi, pur presentando una diffusione estremamente variabile da contesto a contesto, risultano importanti nella formazione e caratterizzazione del paesaggio, basti pensare al paesaggio "a mosaico" dell'Appennino settentrionale (Sereni 1982) o "a bocage" della Bretagna (Perichon 2004).Il concetto di "alberi fuori foresta" viene dibattuto ufficialmente per la prima volta nel 1996 durante la FAO Expert Consultation on Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, tenutasi a Kotka in Finlandia, il cui obiettivo principale era quello di fare il punto della situazione sulle tematiche inerenti la valutazione delle risorse forestali e le relative carenze informative. In detta sede non viene formulata una vera e propria definizione di AFF, ma il termine appare come un neologismo coniato per deduzione dalla definizione di foresta data dalla FAO (Bellefontaine et al. 2004). Il termine AFF fa riferimento a tutti quegli alberi o gruppi di alberi presenti su aree non appartenenti alle categorie "foreste" e "altre terre boscate", in quanto non raggiungono le soglie minime di estensione, larghezza, copertura e altezza a maturità fissate per queste categorie (FAO 2001
Urban and peri-urban forests play a relevant role for the urban population providing recreational and relaxing opportunities, improving air and water quality, and maintaining local biodiversity. In the last century, anthropic pressure and social requests on urban and peri-urban forests was drastically increased. In this context, surveys aimed to investigate the opinions and preferences of residents and visitors about urban and peri-urban forests are relevant in order to supply useful information to the local managers. The aim of the present study is to investigate social preferences for aesthetic and functional characteristics of the Monte Morello peri-urban forest in Tuscany after two different silvicultural treatments (traditional thinning and selective thinning). In order to collect the social preferences a semi-structured questionnaire was administered in spring-summer 2016 to 201 visitors of the Monte Morello peri-urban forest. The results of the survey show that the respondents prefer mixed forests with a horizontal and vertical differentiated stand structure. The respondents prefer three benefits (ecosystem services) provided by the Monte Morello forest: recreational opportunities, carbon dioxide sequestration and biodiversity conservation. In addition, the results show that respondents prefer from the aesthetic point of view the peri-urban forest of Monte Morello after the selective thinning. Conversely, the scenario status quo is the least appreciated due to the high amount of deadwood. The results of the present study provide quali-quantitative information useful for the decision makers (forest planners and managers) in order to define forest management strategies to enhance a peri-urban forest from the recreational point of view and to increase the site attractiveness.Keywords: Peri-urban Forests, Ecosystem Services, Tourism-recreation Function, Visitors, Questionnaire Survey, Tuscany Region IntroduzioneNell'ultimo secolo il ruolo delle foreste urbane e periurbane è profondamente cambiato a causa di una serie di fattori globali -quali l'urbanizzazione e l'industrializzazione -che hanno aumentato la pressione antropica sulle aree naturali prossime agli abitati e, al contempo, ne hanno accresciuto l'importanza sociale (Blazevska et al. 2012, Pastorella et al. 2017. Il rivitalizzato ruolo delle aree naturali con elementi arborei, interne alle città (foreste urbane) o localizzate nelle zone limitrofe ai centri urbani (foreste peri-urbane), è dovuto ad una crescente richiesta sociale di zone verdi dove svolgere attività sportive e ricreative -ad esempio corsa, passeggiate con i cani, bicicletta (Andrada & Deng 2010) -e in grado di migliorare la qualità della vita dei residenti (Tuffery 2014). In tal senso, le foreste urbane e peri-urbane sono un importante "polmone verde" per la popolazione urbana, in grado assorbire anidride carbonica (CO 2 ) atmosferica e sostanze inquinanti (Strohbach & Haase 2012, Nikodinoska et al. 2018. Tali foreste svolgono inoltre un rilevante ruolo estetico migliorando la vivibili...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.