Natural Forests or Cultural Forests? Forest Changes within Italian Protected Areas in the Last 85 Years

The cultural dimension of many forests is not adequately considered by current forest definitions, policies, inventories, and management. Moreover, the concept of "protected area" as a synonym of "natural area" ignores that many forests today included in protected areas (PAs) have been managed and exploited for centuries. The abandonment of rural areas that occurred in the last 60 years in EU countries caused the expansion of forests, with the risk of a homogenization of forest typologies, the loss of cultural features, and the loss of biodiversity at the landscape scale. The aim of this study is to investigate the origin and evolution of forests within Italian PAs in the last 85 years through GIS-based spatial analyses. In 1936, only a minority of the surface included in current PAs was covered by forests, ranging from 32% in Natura 2000 sites to 35% in regional PAs. Forest surface in Italian PAs increased in the last 85 years (from +33.1% in regional PAs to +45.2% in national PAs), mainly due to secondary successions, with a growth rate in Natura 2000 sites equal to 8709 ha/year. In regional PAs, 40.1% of the current forest cover originated after 1936, and this percentage increases to 43% in Natura 2000 sites and to 44.7% in national PAs. The altitudinal range of 500-1000 m a.s.l. is the one most affected by forest spread. In addition, most of the forests in 1936 were regularly managed as coppice: 44% in national PAs, 56% in Natura 2000 sites, and 62% in regional PAs. The study confirms that most of the forest surface included in Italian PAs has a clear cultural origin and is the consequence of the abandonment of pastures and/or cultivations that occurred in the last 85 years. PA management should take into consideration that open areas are shrinking and that the diversity of habitats and forest communities is strongly linked to the persistence of traditional human activities. The current forest characteristics (species composition, vertical and horizontal structure) are also the result of past management, and only active management of forest resources can counteract the homogenization of forest communities and landscape structure.