Sustainable Use and Conservation of the Environmental Resources of the Etna Park (UNESCO Heritage): Evaluation Model Supporting Sustainable Local Development Strategies

Abstract

Rural areas are recognized as multifunctional spaces, where traditional agro-silvo-pastoral and other human activities (unrelated rural tourism, ecotourism, processing industries of agricultural and or extractive products, land maintenance, trade in local products, etc.) take place alongside each other. The integrated endogenous development model, established to mitigate the effects of human activity in protected areas, relies on the enhancement of specific resources of individual territories through the active participation of the community to promote local development. This model is intrinsically connected with the model of sustainable development, based on three cornerstones: environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The difficulty in achieving a reasonable balance among these values relates primarily to areas subject to protection (i.e., Parks and Natural Reserves). Ultimately, the environmental culture emphasizes the sustainability of natural resources, obviously in relation to these values and to the vulnerability of these areas. This paper outlines some relationships between environmental protection and the exercise of agricultural activities and other human activities in protected areas by using the theory of “rough sets”. The study aims to show that in the complex context of Etna Park (recognized World Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2013), the model developed by the “rough sets” could provide useful guidance to policy makers to formulate local development strategies according to a model of the sustainable management of protected areas.

Ecological and Economic Indicators for the Evaluation of Almond (Prunus dulcis L.) Orchard Renewal in Sicily

“…The third group of stakeholders involved (policymakers) was particularly interested in the results of the environmental assessment. This is due to their interest in the valorization of territorial products and landscapes, which are closely linked to the food and wine tourism policies of Sicily [54,55]. Moreover, they underlined that, taking into consideration the economic assessment as well, this study allows farmers to realize crop differentiation in advantageous conditions to strengthen the nut sector (Table 8).…”

A Goal Programming Model to Guide Decision-Making Processes towards Conservation Consensuses

“…Sumida and Valente [14] prioritized protection areas in the Piedade municipality, Brazil, using a combined AHP-GIS method. Decisional problems regarding sustainable forestry planning have also been analyzed with MCDM methods [19][20][21][22][23][24]. Tuda et al [39] used MCDM techniques and spatial analysis to identify conflict hotspots in Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve.…”

“…In the case of protected areas, MCDM methods have been applied to define management strategies. Sturiale et al [21] used a rough sets approach to classify crops according to five sustainability attributes in a Sicilian Regional Park. Portillo et al [22] applied an analytic network process (ANP) methodology to prioritize rural development strategies in protected areas based on nine strategic lines of the LEADER program (Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale) and they found that this sophisticated method provided a ranking which fitted better to the LEADER approach than a simple mean of preferences regarding identified strategic lines and objectives.…”

Proposal of a Bioregional Strategic Framework for a Sustainable Food System in Sicily

“…The approach makes it possible to deal with complex issues, using knowledge belonging to different scientific disciplines or specific stakeholder knowledge, to provide decision makers with a comprehensive and integrated bottom-up view [70]. The whole process is divided into three phases [71]:…”