Riconquistiamo il paesaggio - ACCA software SpA
Riconquistiamo il paesaggio - ACCA software SpA
Riconquistiamo il paesaggio - ACCA software SpA
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Riconquistare <strong>il</strong> <strong>paesaggio</strong><br />
less than 5% and the extent of habitat conversion exceeds that of habitat protection by a factor<br />
which is greater than 8 (Hoekstra et al. 2005). In comparison, the extent of habitat conversion<br />
exceeds that of habitat protection by a factor of 4 in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests,<br />
tropical dry forests, and tropical conifer forests, usually considered among the most endangered<br />
ecosystems in the world (Myers et al. 2000).<br />
However, despite their importance, protected areas cannot be the only conservation tool used<br />
in regions of high human densities (T<strong>il</strong>man et al. 1994; Carroll et al. 2003). Our results suggest<br />
that a comprehensive management plan to take into account biodiversity conservation in the<br />
little remaining natural matrix of the Mediterranean coastal areas is urgently needed to complement<br />
the function of the protected areas. Moreover, much more emphasis should be placed<br />
on preserving and reintroducing traditional land use management activities, because the Mediterranean<br />
landscape and its biotic assemblages have developed as a consequence of past (and<br />
now disappearing) human activities.<br />
Future conservation efforts should address the broad socio-political and ecological processes<br />
that are most likely to occur across the whole hotspot, especially along coastal areas, and the<br />
network of protected areas should be functionally integrated in a conservation strategy that explicitly<br />
includes the human dominated matrix and the traditional land-use practices. In this context,<br />
analysis of land-use/land-cover changes within the various macro-regions provide significant<br />
support to conservation planning by producing accurate information regarding local threats and<br />
costs of action.<br />
Acknowledgements<br />
This work is mainly based on a series of analyses presented in Falcucci A., Maiorano L. and Boitani L.<br />
2007: Changes in land-use/land-cover patterns in Italy and their implications for biodiversity conservation.<br />
Landscape Ecology 22:617-631. A.F. and L.M. were supported by the Directorate for Nature<br />
Conservation (Italian Ministry of the Environment). Jianguo Wu, James Wickham, A. Montemaggiori, C.<br />
Rondinini, V. Salvatori, and I. Sinibaldi provided valuable comments and contributions.<br />
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