The enhancement of cultural landscapes in mountain environments: An artificial channel history (Torrent-Neuf, Canton Valais, Switzerland) and the role of trees as natural archives of water flow changes

Abstract

Cultural landscapes represent one of the best examples of the interaction between human and natural environment and cultural trails are an effective way for their valorization. The Torrent-Neuf (Canton Valais, Switzerland) is a cultural trail realized in 2009 along one of the artificial channels used in the region since Medieval times to move water resources from tributary valleys to irrigated lands. Slope instability processes and high maintenance costs provoked the abandonment of the artificial channel in 1934. In 2005 water flow was restored in it. Dendrochronological analyses, carried out on trees growing along the artificial channel banks, allowed collecting information about natural and man-induced hydrological changes, contributing to increase the global value of the whole area.

The Sustainability of Rock Art: Preservation and Research

“…As suggested by Deacon (2006) [149], the promotion of rock art as a touristic resource requires shared strategies aimed at understanding the interaction of key elements that affect the long-term conservation of frequently visited rock art sites as well as their original environmental and cultural (e.g., ethnoarchaeological) settings. In fact, specific tourism practices need to be adequate to local circumstances and local stakeholders [150][151][152] and the successful touristic development of rock art sites must include the development of the local economy and the promotion the local cultural landscape [153][154][155]. In such contexts of potential human-triggered threats to rock art sites, several successful examples of touristic accessibility exist, combining preservation and cultural and economic promotion.…”

Multi-temporal mapping of the Upper Rhone Valley (Valais, Switzerland): fluvial landscape changes at the end of the Little Ice Age (18th–19th centuries)

“…Land-use change is a dynamic process that links together natural and human systems (Brandolini & Carrer, 2020). Therefore, a historical reconstruction of this process is necessary to evaluate the reciprocal interactions between anthropogenic activities and fluvial environments (Bollati, Reynard, Cagnin, & Pelfini, 2018). Historical maps, when available, represent a valuable resource for understanding the causes, mechanisms and consequences of the human-induced changes in fluvial features and support river management at any scale (Hohensinner et al, 2013;Pătru-Stupariu, Stupariu, Cuculici, & Huzui, 2011).…”