Italy and  the Conservation of the Agricultural Heritage

delimiter image

The National Strategic Plan for Rural Development 2007-2013 (PSN) has introduced the landscape as one of the strategig goals. With this decision the Italian Ministry of Agricultural Food and Forestry Policies has decided to highlight the importance of the landscape, with the objectives and actions of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and of Rural Development. The Working Group “Landscape” of the Italian Ministry of Agricultural Food and Forestry Policies, is involved in research in the relationship between the landscape and agricultural policies.

On the occasion of the National Strategic Plan for Rural Development 2007-2013, the Working Group “Landscape” has produced an issue paper on the role of landscape . Following the approval of the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programmes (PSR) in 2009 has also published the report “Landscape and Rural Development. The role of the landscape within the Rural Development Programmes 2007-2013 “.

THE NATIONAL OBSERVATORY OF RURAL LANDSCAPES
delimiter image

The introduction of  landscape in the Italian agricultural policy has produced the Decree n. 17070 of 19 November 2012 by the Ministry of Agriculture Food and Forestry Policies for the institution of the “National Observatory of Rural Landscape, Agricultural Practices and Traditional Knowledge”. Among the tasks of the National Observatory of Rural Landscape, can be found the surveying of landscape, of agricultural practices and of traditional knowledge considered to be of particular value, the promotion of research activities for studying the values ​​associated with the rural landscape, its preservation, its management and planning, even in order to preserve the bio-cultural diversity. It must also develop general principles and guidelines for the protection and enhancement of the rural landscape with particular reference to action taken under the Common Agricultural Policy.

In addition to the landscape, the decree is aimed at the preservation and enhancement of “agricultural practices and traditional knowledge”, defined as “complex systems based on ingenious and diversified techniques, on local knowledge expressed by rural civilization, which have made ​​a major contribution to the construction and maintenance of traditional landscapes.”

This decree will also create a “National Register of Rural Landscape, Agricultural Practices and Traditional Knowledge.” The Ministry will then be responsible to identify and catalog in the registry “the traditional rural landscapes or landscapes of historical interest present within the national territory and connected traditional practices and knowledge, defining their significance, integrity and vulnerability, taking account both of the opinion of scholars and of the values ascribed to these landscapes, practices and knowledge by the concerned communities, subjects and populations.”

Download here the text of the Ministerial Decree n. 17070/12.

THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORICAL RURAL LANDSCAPE AND AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

delimiter image
Scientific coordinator: Prof. Mauro Agnoletti

Italy offers an incomparable heritage of landscapes forged by man over the centuries, representative of the different civilizations that have left footprints on our territories. They are an exceptional heritage, an expression of cultural identity and the image of Italy in the world. They are subjected to multiple threats but always of great interest. A  research sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies, in collaboration with 14 Italian universities and some international research institutions has selected 123 historic landscapes, distributed in all the Italian regions. The research takes into account the historical value, the typical products and the critical issues that threaten their integrity, proposing guidelines for their valorization. Their description is accompanied by essays that illustrate the collected data, the trends and characteristics of the Italian rural landscapes, bearing in mind the historical, environmental and economic issues.

The landscape issue is then addressed in all its complexity, without any concession to nostalgic approaches, or to the illusory search for a nature completely removed of human influence, considering instead its role as an added value for the development of rural areas, for the conservation of the environment and for the quality of life of the population. Considering the landscape as the integration of social, economic and environmental issues, in space and time, the book intends to re-assign the role of privileged point of view to interpret the meaning of our country and of its rural territory, opposing to the phenomenon of abandonment, of industrialization and of and urbanization that compromise the integrity and the possibility of development.

 The research has promoted the official establishment of a National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes and Agricultural Practices in 2012, which is managed by the National Observatory of Rural Landscape, based at the Ministry of Agriculture.

The book with the complete research has been published by Laterza (for Italy, in Italian and English) and by Springer for the international market (in English only, click here to visit the Italian Historical Rural Landscapes page on Springer web site).

Download here the preface by the President of the Italian Republic

Download here the preface by the Director-General of UNESCO WHC

Download here the index and the list of the contributors of the publication

The Memorandum of Understanding between FAO GIAHS and Italian Ministry of Agriculture Food and Forestry Policies signed in Rome November 2016

ConsideringFAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (hereinafter referred to asGIAHS) concept, that aims at international recognition, dynamic conservation and adaptive management of the world’s agri-cultural heritage systems for sustained food and livelihood security.

Noting the efforts of FAO and its partners in promoting and supporting the dynamic conservation of agricultural heritage systems around the world since 2002, and identification of 220 systems, notably in Algeria, Chile, China, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Tunisia; and that FAO has established pilot sites in several countries, for which management approaches are implemented along with national and local stakeholder for integrating in situconservation with traditional knowledge, for continuous co-adaptation to a changing physical and socio-economic environment and for strengthening the resilience and co-evolutionary balance of agricultural systems and their associated landscapes and knowledge systems.

Considering  that the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiative is now FAO corporate programme and has been financially supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and that GIAHS activities have been carried out in collaboration with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations University (UNU), Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restauration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), World Heritage Centre (WHC), Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other international and national government organizations, universities, private sector and civil society organizations.

Considering that the Department of European and International Policies and RuralDevelopment, General Directorate of Rural Development, has developed the National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes, in view of the creation of the National Inventory of Traditional Rural Landscapes and Traditional Practices.

Noting that the Ministry has also drafted strategies and actions for rural landscapes, within the framework of the National Strategic Plan for Rural Development 2007-2013, with the aim of promoting the role of rural heritage for the economic development, the environmental quality and the  quality of life of the  rural population.

Now therefore, FAO and the Ministry (hereafter jointly referred to as “the Parties”) have decided to conclude this Memorandum of Understanding (hereinafter referred to as the “Memorandum”) as follows:

 Scope of cooperation:

The Parties agree to work together to promote dynamic conservation of GIAHS through appropriately coordinated support to related activities; and to cooperate by consultation, coordination of efforts, mutual assistance and joint action in thematic areas of common interest and in accordance with the objectives and strategic principles of GIAHS.

Areas of Cooperation:

The Partiesagree to cooperate inter aliain the following areas:

  1. Identifying areas as potential GIAHS, initiallyselected among the  sites the National Register of Historical Rural  Landscapes.
  2. Developing common strategies for the incorporation of GIAHS in rural development policies.
  3. Developing international activities to increase the number of GIAHS in the European rural territory.
  4. Developing research activities regardinginter alia: the role of traditional landscapes and traditional practice for the adaptation and mitigation to climate change; identify technological solutions aimed at supporting good practices in GIAHS with special reference toconservation of traditional rural practices  connected to forests, pasture and cultivated areas.
  5. The development of planning and management strategies to improve the economicand environmental value of GIAHS, relating them to rural and environmental policies.
  6. Planning and organizing conferences, workshops and seminars at the national, regional or global level; promoting policy and strategic dialogue and interchange.
Technical Co-operation and Joint Action:

 Whenever desirable, FAO and the Ministry may undertake and seek each other’s technical co-operation with a view to promoting the development of collaborative activities indicated in Article 2 of this Memorandum and may, through appropriate channels, conclude specific arrangements, including exchange of letters, for joint action with the aim of attaining objectives of mutual interest.

logo