MULTIFUNCTIONALITY IN AGRICULTURE, BIODIVERSITY, WILDLIFE AND GAME

Survey and proposals to improve legislation starting from the Tuscany Region

This work is the result of a research supported by Arsia (actually in the Tuscany Region Administration) and coordinates by ISPRA on the potentiality of agricultural multifunctionality oriented to biodiversity conservation and wildlife/game management on farms. In particular the research focused on the improvement of the Tuscany legislation developing a bibliographic, legislative and socio-economic survey with stakeholders.

The research objective was not a wide and complete report on multifuctionality in agriculture, but a more specific and focused study about farmers involvement on biodiversity conservation and wildlife/game management in agro-ecosystems in two provinces (Florence and Pistoia) of the Tuscany region. Farmers involvement is one of the key point in the valorization of multifunctionality in agriculture and it needs a deepening of legislation on agro-environmental measures and a territorial survey on stakeholders. Because of that we developed an ad hoc survey to verify farmers attitude and willingness to realize agro-environmental and wildlife/game oriented farms or simply to realize wildlife habitat improvement actions in the territory of Florence and Pistoia Provinces.

The research subject and results are presented in six chapters. In the first we develop an introduction, some definitions and basic concepts about multifunctionality in agriculture. In the second we report the idea, the organization and the implementation of the project research. In the third we analyze the European, National and Regional legislation and the potential improvement. In the forth we illustrate the agricultural, the environmental, the faunal situation and game management actually present in the Tuscany region. In the fifth we describe in details the two survey realized in Florence and Pistoia provinces. The first on attitudes and willingness of conventional farms and farmers to realize wildlife habitat improvement actions and the second on Private Hunting Territory (AFV-AAV) about positives and negatives aspects of the present legislation on the valorization of the multifunctionality in private farms. In the sixth we show good examples of multifunctional farms environmentally and wildlife oriented present in the Tuscany region. We analyze the key factors that may explain the different intensity and type of multifunctionality and we propose economic and legislative solution to improve the actual situation. In Appendixes we detailed the legislative framework with the most important and regional regulations. Finally we report the original questionnaires implemented in the survey.

Available only on line

ISPRA

Reports

167/2012

ISBN: 978-88-448-0572-2