SWOT-AHP as an inclusive analytical tool of the forest-wood-energy chain: the case study of the Sarntal (South Tyrol)

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Abstract:Ecosystem services in forests of Calabria: stakeholders' perception. In the last decades, the ecological, economic and social analysis of benefits provided by ecosystem to society has coved a great importance in the scientific international literature. The main studies focuses on three aspects: ecosystem services potential supply, demand and use. The potential supply is defined as the ecosystem biophysical capacity to supply services, while the demand represents the amount of service desired by the society. The third aspect considers the current use of a ecosystem service in order to satisfy the social demand. This study focused on the evaluation of social demand on ecosystem services provided by forests at local level (Calabria region) under the project "ALForLab". The main objective of the present study is to analyze the stakeholders' opinions and preferences of forest sector in Calabria Region about relevance of forest ecosystem services and categories of ecosystem services. The study, conducted in four areas (Pollino, Sila, Catena Costiera and Serre Calabre), was structured in three steps: (i) identification and classification of stakeholders (stakeholder analysis); (ii) administration of a questionnaire to the previously identified stakeholders; (iii) statistical analysis of the data collected by questionnaire. Stakeholders' opinions and preferences were analyzed in order to highlight the differences between study areas and groups of stakeholders. At the end of the stakeholder analysis, 320 stakeholders were identified and contacted, 71 of whom filled in the questionnaire (response rate of 22%). The results show that the two main categories of ecosystem services are the supporting services and regulating services. According to the stakeholders' opinions the three most important forest ecosystem services are: biodiversity, landscape and hydrogeological protection. Landscape is particularly important because it is strictly linked to the cultural value and social identity of a territory. This survey show that the characteristics and peculiarities of each study area are the main factors that influence the stakeholders' preferences on single elements of the landscape. In the study areas characterized by a high natural value (Pollino, Sila and Serre Calabre) the stakeholders consider the natural elements of the landscape (forests and water bodies) as the most important, while in the most urbanized study area (Catena Costiera) the anthropic and cultural elements have a key importance. Finally, the stakeholders consider the forest fires, the illegal cuttings and the forest management abandonment the three main important threat factors to forests functionality in Calabria.

Section: Introduzioneunclassified

Ecosystem services in forests of Calabria: stakeholders’ perception

Pastorella¹,

Maesano²,

Paletto³

et al. 2017

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Demand and supply of wood biomass for energy use in the province of Trento (Italy): a survey

Pieratti¹,

Bernardi²,

Romagnoli³

et al. 2019

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In the last decades, the energy policy of European Union (EU) has fostered the use of biomass from forests and outside forests for energy purposes. Firstly, the Green Paper on renewable energies of the European Commission, then, the Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, the objectives of reducing the greenhouses gases (GHG) emissions and increasing the share of final consumption covered by renewable sources have been established. In this context, the present study investigated the flow of wood residues for energy use in the Trentino provinceinvolving 82 wood processing enterprises (74% of total enterprises) and 22 biomass energy plants (85% of total biomass energy plants)and quality of raw material used. The results show that in the Trentino province 100% of wood residues produced by wood processing enterprises are sold in the market (90.6%) or re-used within the enterprise (9.4%). Concerning the biomass sold on the market, 46% of wood biomass is marketed within the Trentino province, while 54% is marketed outside the province (Bolzano province, Veneto and Lombardy region). The biomass energy plants mainly use woodchips from forest and sawmills (86%), while sawdust and bark cover the remaining 10% and 4%, respectively. The biomass energy plants sample involved in the survey buys mainly raw material from traders (42.5%) followed by wood processing enterprises (34.3%) and forest enterprises (23.2%). Regarding the quality of wood biomass, only 54.5% of biomass energy plants sample checks the water content, while 41% buy certified woodchips. The results of this study highlight that forest-wood chain in the Trentino province is efficient in re-using wood residues produced in accordance with the principles of the circular bioeconomy, while there are still margins for improvement about the controls of the quality of raw materials used and to enhance of wood products of high added value (bio-textiles, bio-plastics).

Assessment of the vulnerability factors for the Bosco Pantano nature reserve (Policoro, Southern Italy): the SWOT-AHP dynamic approach

Travascia¹,

Castellaneta²,

Colucci³

et al. 2022

The Regional Oriented Reserve "Bosco Pantano" near Policoro (province of Matera, Southern Italy) has been established to preserve one of the most interesting lowland forests in Southern Italy which survived to the uncontrolled land drainage and intensive agriculture occurred in the last century. Floodplain forests were indiscriminately exploited for millenia according to economic demands, that led to a loss of habitats and their biodiversity. In this context, a survey was carried out through a questionnaire administered to local stakeholders with the aim of investigating the most relevant factors that might impact on the ecosystem vulnerability of the natural reserve, either now or in the future, thus undermining its survival. The application of the hybrid method SWOT-AHP (A'WOT) allowed to categorize the different SWOT factors. The survey revealed the strong and shared willingness of stakeholders to valorize the peculiar characteristics of the reserve in order to promote its protection and preserve its biodiversity. Nonetheless, several critical points were found like the poor attention to the weaknesses factors, that might compromise the survival of the protected forest. In general, a limited interest in the research and monitoring activities, as well as their possible benefits on the whole area, has been recorded. Yet, multiple actions are recommended for the preservation and valorization of the peculiarity of this biotype, for example by promoting the development of sustainable forms of tourism, implementing long-term research and monitoring projects, establishing control bodies, and improving the environmental awarness of local inhabitants through specific dissemination.