Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (CREA) (Coordinatore)

The Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (CREA) has competence of scientific research in agriculture and forestry. It works linked with Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry Policies. On March 2006, following the agreement of the Conference of Regions, the approval decree for the “Reorganization and Rationalization Plan organized the Council in 5 Departments to which refer 15 Centers and 32 Research Units.

In the present project are involved:

• CREA FL deals with the applied research and sustainable management of the forest environment, the enforcement of consistent silvicultural practices aimed at the improvement of multifunctionality, the maintenance and improvement of types & scales of biodiversity, the forest ecology  (http://sito.entecra.it/portale/cra_dati_istituto.php?id=215  e http://www.selvicoltura.eu)
• CREA AA deals with soil improvement and its conservation in the production chains through the study of physical, chemical, biological and mineralogical processes of soil, on classification, genesis, erosion and mapping of soil aimed at a better understanding of the soil resource, on the quality of agricultural production and environmental protection.  (http://sito.entecra.it/portale/cra_dati_istituto.php?id=204 e http://abp.entecra.it )

Studies are focused on management of degraded soils, protection of agro and forest-ecosystems from damage caused by nematodes, mites, insects and more developed animals, with particular attention to methods of integrated and biological control, environmental impact reduction, use and preservation of species useful for food production.

In the SelPiBioLife:

• CREA FL is responsible for the choice of the pilot areas e for their description related to forest and local features; is responsible for the silvicultarl treatments definition and operations, and for the sssessment of structural and dendrometric parameters of forest stands and of deadwood before and after treatments.
• CREA AA is responsible for the assessment of the floristic diversity and of the diversity of soil microbial communities and of the mesofauna before and after treatments.

Coordinator of SelPiBioLife
Paolo Cantiani - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Responsible of project at CREA FL:
Paolo Cantiani - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Responsible of project at CREA AA:
Isabella De Meo - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For further information: http://sito.entecra.it/portale/index2.php

MoreLIFE projects

CREA-AA is partner  of LIFE MIPP (Monitoring insects with public participation), LIFE11 NAT/IT/000252 (http://lifemipp.eu/) and coordinator of SOILPRO (Monitoring for Soil Protection) LIFE08 ENV/IT/00428 (http://www.soilpro.eu/). In the past has been partner in the Project Progetto Man-Gmp-Ita (Validation of risk management tools for genetically modified plants in protected and sensitive areas in Italy) LIFE+ MAN-GMP-ITA (NAT/IT/000334) (http://www.man-gmp-ita.sinanet.isprambiente.it/).

CREA FL is partner of LIFE08 NAT/IT/00371 RESILFOR (RestoringSILver-firFORest) (http://www.liferesilfor.eu) and of LIFE 09 ENV/IT000078 MANFOR (MANaging FORests for multiple purposes: carbon, biodiversity and socio-economic wellbeing) (http://www.manfor.eu). In the past has been partner of LIFE09 ENV/IT000087 PPROSPOT (Policy and PROtection of SPOradic tree species in  Tuscany forest)

Compagnia delle Foreste s.r.l.

Compagnia delle foreste (CdF) is a private corporation specialized in communication concerning environmental field. Since 1995, the company has been producing the forest magazine “Sherwood - Foreste e alberi oggi" with national distribution, aimed at divulgating and promoting forestry issues, in collaboration with local authorities, research centers and thanks to 4 employed graduates in Forestry. In particular, management of tree plantations, forest fire, tree oriented silviculture, silviculture for sporadic species and carbon balance are matters of interest.
Conferences, seminars and training courses about these themes have been organized as well as handbooks, thematic maps, calendars, websites and videos have been published.

CdF produces and manages web sites for projects in which it is involved in and it is the holder of the only one Italian on-line library dedicated to forestry field (www.ecoalleco.it).
In the project SelPiBioLife, CdF is involved in communication and divulgation, in collaboration with partner handler for demonstrative surveys and monitoring.

The Compagnia delle Foreste manager for the project SelPiBioLife is:
Paolo Mori  -  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For further details:  www.compagniadelleforeste.it

MoreLIFE projects

At present, CdF is beneficiary partner in LIFE+ InBioWood project (LIFE12 ENV/IT/000153 www.inbiowood.eu). However, it was partner also in LIFE+ PProSpoT project (09/ENV/IT/000087 www.pprospot.it) and participated as sub contractor in LIFE Summacop and LIFE+ Carbomark projects (LIFE ENV/IT/000388 www.carbomark.org).

Unione dei Comuni Amiata Val d’Orcia

The Unione dei Comuni Amiata Val d’Orcia (UCAVO) is a local authority which operates within an area which includes the municipalities of Abbadia San Salvatore, Castiglione d’Orcia, Piancastagnaio, Radicofani, San Quirico d’Orcia in the Province of Siena. The main aim of the UCAVO is to enhance the quality of life of its own citizens and to promote the social-economic development, the protection and promotion of the territory, with particular attention to overcome the disadvantages caused by the mountain environment and the marginalization of the territory.

Due to its own forest skills, the UCAVO is responsible for the management of more than 5000ha of mostly forested territory, divided between its property and property of Regione Toscana.

During the 1997-2004 period, UCAVO carried out a mycological research with the University of Siena, which results have been presented at the VII International Congress of Mycology, held at Oslo in 2002. The UCAVO is interested in innovative experimental silvicultural treatments, with the aim of enhancing both forest biodiversity and minor products.  

Within the SelPiBioLife project, the UCAVO deals with the delimitation of the monitoring area within its own geographycal territory, the demarcation of the monitoring area and the implementation of the thinning operations and the subsequent wood logging.

The project responsible of the UCAVO entity within the SelPiBioLife is:
Pier Giuseppe Montini -  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more info:  www.uc-amiatavaldorcia.gov.it

SERVICE 6: Forestation - Regional Property - Fire Protection - Environment - Hydrogeological Constraint - Wood sales

MoreLIFE projects

In 2005 the UCP finished the "Conservazione delle praterie montane dell'Appennino Toscano" LIFE project which is described on the following link: www.regione.toscana.it/-/progetto-life-praterie-montane.

Unione dei Comuni del Pratomagno

The Unione dei Comuni del Pratomagno (UCP) is a local authority with its own statutory autonomy. It was created to deal with the management, as a sort of partnership, of a number of municipal functions.

Its territorial area includes the municipalities of Castelfranco di Sopra, Castiglion Fibocchi, Loro Ciuffenna Pian di Sco and the Province of Arezzo. In the UCP territory is included the Regional Forest Complex "Pratomagno-Valdarno", which has an extensive public reforestation area.

The total area of reforestation is approximately 870 ha, of which almost 500 are pure pine stands or with pine prevalence. To optimize the management of the reforestation, since the late 70s there was a fruitful collaboration between the past "Comunità Montana del Pratomagno" (now UCP) and the past Experimental Institution for Silviculture of Arezzo (now CRA - Research Centre for Silviculture), which significantly increased in the last 15 years.

In the period 2011-2013 the experimentation and collaboration between the two institutions has been further enhanced thanks to the project "Mycological silviculture: relationships between silvicultural treatment and production of marketable mushrooms in reforestation of black pine" funded by the Region of Tuscany.

In the project SelPiBioLife, the UCP entity deals with the delimitation of the monitoring area within its own geographycal territory, the demarcation of the monitoring area and the implementation of the thinning operations and the subsequent wood logging.

The project responsible of the UCP entity within the SelPiBioLife is:
Marco Romualdi - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more info: www.unionepratomagno.it

MoreLIFE projects

In 2005 the UCP finished the "Conservazione delle praterie montane dell'Appennino Toscano" LIFE project which is described on the following link: www.regione.toscana.it/-/progetto-life-praterie-montane.

University of Siena - Department of LIFE sciences

The research interest of this group is addressed principally to macromycetes and the environment, with the aim to understand the ecology and mysterious interactions and to bring fungi as active protagonists in conservation programes:

• qualitative and quantitative analysis of fungal community above ground; 
• effect of various management treatments on fruiting of edible and precious mushrooms;
• qualitative and quantitative analysis of wood-inhabiting fungi;
• description of ectomycorrhizal community on root tips;
• analysis of fungal communities above and below ground in natural and cultivated trufferies;
• mapping, checking and redlisting

In SelPiBioLife project, the staff of the University of Siena studies the effects of thinning on mycological diversity, with reference to the anatomo-morphological characteristics and molecular techniques.

The manager of the University of Siena for the SelPiBioLife project is:
Elena Salerni - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

For further information: www.unisi.it

What is LIFE+?

Since 1992, LIFE program has been the EU’s instrument for co-financing projects on environment issues proposed by member countries.
The objective is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental legislation. In particular, LIFE pursues the objectives of the sixth action community framework programme about environment. The financed projects may be proposed by operators, organizations, public or private institutions.
LIFE + (or LIFE Plus) is a funding instrument for a period ranged from 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2013, and contributing over € 2000 million.  

LIFE+ program includes three main themes:
•    LIFE+ "Nature and biodiversity";
•    LIFE+ "Policy and environmental governance ";
•    LIFE+ "Information and communication".

Every year the European Commission purposes the “call” to submit projects in one of the three LIFE+ themes.
To know more about LIFE+ Program and download informative material and forms, to have details concerning other LIFE projects, visit website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life (in english language). Three articles about LIFE+ and LIFE 2014-2020 are available on Sherwood magazine (in italian language):

LIFE_1 >>>

ProFor 1 >>>

ProFor 2 >>>

Goal and constraints

Constraints

In Italy, black pine and calabrian pine forests cover nearly 236.467 hectares (23% of the total
area covered by conifers). In Tuscany, these forests cover nearly 20.500 hectares.

Black pine stands are, in general, plantations established throughout the Apennines range after the Second World War with the purpose of re-establishing forest cover in marginal and eroded soils.
Both the decay of forest cover and soil erosion were the outcome of the intensive forest exploitation, such as grazing and wildfires, over the centuries.
The pine stands already achieved the land restoration purpose and today the key functions are the protection against soil erosion and the hydrological regulation of catchments. These plantations have been assuming also a landscape function in the present landscape physiognomy of Apennines forests of Central Italy.

In order to guarantee the multifunctional and sustainable role of these stands, it is necessary to establish and realize a series of silvicultural treatments finalized to the  renaturalisation. This means, in the middle term, the natural reintroduction of broadleaves originally living in the same areas and the establishment of mixed forest.

The first stages of management of black pine plantations are founded on thinnings, which are primarily aimed at regulating stand density. Selective thinning has remarkable positive effects on heliophile species like pines. This technique focuses on encouraging the growth of selected trees by reducing competition.  Altough the positive effects of selective thinnings on the growth and the stability of black pine stands are demonstrated, these kind of interventions are not commonly applied in  pine forests of the Italian Apennine.

Goals

The project’s main objective is to demonstrate the potential of the selective silvicultural treatment to enhance the level of biodiversity in black pine stands undergrowth and soil. In the same time the selective thinning has positive effects on the production (increase of the growth rate) and on the protection (enhance of physical stability parameters).
The global effect is an increasing of the functionality of the ecosystem and the creation of favourable ecological conditions for the natural regeneration of autochthones species.
A communication and information strategy will be developed in order to reach in an effective way all the interested parties and to disseminate the results of the project. Specific field activities will be finalized at demonstrating how the selective thinning is easy from a silvicultural point of view and replicable in different contexts.

Actions

A - Preparatory actions, elaboration of management plans and/or of action plans

A1 - Cognitive framework of the physical component of the landscapes, of the forests and of the forests management. 

A2 - Assessment of structural and dendrometric parameters of forest stands. Deadwood assessment before silvicultural treatment. 

A3 - Assessment of the floristic diversity before treatments.

A4 - Assessment of the diversity of soil microbial communities and of the mesofauna before treatments. 

A5 -  Assessment of the mycologic diversity before treatments by means of macro-morphologic and molecular techniques.

C - Concrete conservation actions

C1 - Definition and achievement of the thinning operations in the UC Pratomagno pilot area.

C2 - Definition and achievement of the thinning operations in the UC Amiata Val D’Orcia study area.   

D - Monitoring the impact of the project actions  

D1 - Assessment of structural and dendrometric parameters of forest stands and of deadwood after treatments.  

D2 - Assessment of floristic diversity after treatments.  

D3 - Assessment of the diversity of soil microbial communities and of the mesofauna after treatments. 

D4 - Assessment of the mycologic diversity after treatments by means of macro-morphologic and molecular techniques.   

E - Public awareness and dissemination of results 

E1 - Identification of the stakeholders and of the main target audience subjects.  

E2 - Planning, achievement and management of the web-site of the project.  

E3 - Realization of the “Notice board” and of the “Leyman’s report”.

E4 - Realization of participation meetings, training courses, informative and sensitization seminars. E5 - Dissemination of the results in Italy and in Europe.  

E6 - Realization of launching and final conferences.  

E7 -  Layman's report realization.

F - General management of the project

F1 - General management of the project.

F2 - After LIFE communication plan.

Paragraph 2 – Intervention area

Pilot areas

Innovative silvicultural treatments and biodiversity monitoring on undergrowth and soil will be carried out in reforestations that belong to the regional Agricultural and Forestal Heritage of Toscana managed by the two following partners: “Unione dei Comuni del Pratomagno” (UCP) and “Unione dei Comuni Amiata Val d’Orcia” (UCAVO).

In particular, pilot ares will be established in:

• Pratomagno-Valdarno Forest (Arezzo) that cover a surface of 3300.14 ha.
• Forest Complex “Madonna delle Querce” (Siena and Grosseto) that cover a surface of 2168.60 ha.

Climate data

In each of the two areas of intervention a DAVIS weather station was installed with sensors for data acquisition: "Vantage Pro2"; able to record and provide the main weather data directly via the web.

In particular:
• Temperature/humidity with passive standard sun screen;
• Rain gauge (resolution 0.2 mm);
• Anemometer (speed/wind direction);
• Global solar radiation;
• Ultraviolet radiation (UV);

The aim is to compare, once acquired, the complete weather data with the soil moisture and temperature data in the experimental areas, in order to assess the soil water balance with good reliability and correlate it with the effects of the different thinning techniques on the biotic component.

The transmission of information takes place in three steps
from sensors to data logger through a wireless transmitter
from the datalogger to the server data transmission via GPRS;
finally it is possible to directly receive data on the web by downloading.

The precise data relative to the demonstration sites of the SelPiBioLIFE project: Monte Amiata (SI) and in Pratomagno (AR) are therefore available to all through the following links:

http://www.weatherlink.com/user/pratomagno

http://www.weatherlink.com/user/vivodorcia

A short video shows the tool!

State of progress

Verde: Azione conclusa
Giallo: Azione in svolgimento
Rosso: Azione non ancora iniziata
Linea blu: momento attuale