LIGURIA: Preserving the Land

Writers: Marcello Cappellazzi and Valentina Pinzuti are independent contributors to Revolve. Photographer: Arianna Pagani

THIS FEATURE IS PART OF REVOLVE WATER www.revolve-water.com COMING SOON! Nestled on the scenic northern Mediterranean coast in the Region of , the (Five Lands) – , , , , – are renowned as an exquisite tourist destination. In 1997, UNESCO World Heritage listed Cinque Terre as a “living cultural landscape” and in 1999 the cluster of five villages were declared a national park. Of the five medieval fishing villages, Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza were devastated by flash floods in October 2011. Revolve visited the villages in June 2013 to see the reconstruction efforts. On the Italian north-west coast, in the prov- lenges inherent to the Ligurian region. ince of , Liguria, little towns with For the inhabitants, it is essential to colorful houses cling to steep hills along a maintain an alignment with the narrow, rugged strip of land between the traditional ways of life while mak- Maritime Alps, the Apennine Mountains ing provisions to alleviate and and the Mediterranean Sea. The rich veg- lessen the amount of destruction etation, scenic vineyards, hiking trails with should another flood occur. Bet- spectacular views distinctively define these ter prevention measures are key five medieval towns of Cinque Terre. Such to properly addressing the threat morphology, while visually pleasing can of flash floods in Cinque Terre as have fragile land conditions, thus creating in other areas around the Mediter- instability especially with heavy rains. Such ranean and beyond. was the case in late October 2011 when Cinque Terre was hit severely by heavy Geologist, Carlo Malgarotto, says, “this is flooding which redefined the natural chal- an extremely dynamic environment where Carlo Malgarotto.

78 significant changes arise in a very brief time Image page 76-77: View on Monterosso al Mare. Left page (top): The road to Vernazza is still closed. Left page (bottom): Poster showing the consequences of period and where the unusual morphological flood of 25th October 2011. Vernazza. This page: Monterosso al Mare. and meteorological conditions created by the natural architecture have been exacerbated in the last few years. The biggest challenge is that the area is not affected by the same risks in the same way. The fierce force of the same territory, under emergency conditions, amounts of water to rush violently down, heavy rains tends usually to concentrate only interventions can only be planned case by dislocating and destroying everything in its on a narrow portion of land and to barely case. Only indepth research of the territory path. A complication encountered during the affect some others. In October 2011, while will provide the best approach for the con- flooding was the lack of a sufficient relief the two villages of Monterosso al Mare and tainment of damages and risks.” valve for the water stream coming from the Vernazza were inundated by flooding, the mountains. With drainage overwhelmed, the water scarcely damaged the other three vil- One of the most dangerous risks of heavy cement and asphalt channeled the water lages. With no homogenous dynamic at play precipitation is “detritus flow”, where the that accumulated and gushed destructively and many geological differences within the sheer inclination of the hills causes massive through villages, such as Vernazza.

79 Special Focus: Vernazza In his office, Vincenzo Resasco, the Mayor from the town and much of the area was ren- of Vernazza, shows a video of a severe ovated. This crisis provided the opportunity to rainstorm that in October 2011 flooded the re-engineer the streets and sewer systems Cinque Terre towns of Vernazza and Mon- to prevent other potential disasters, and to terosso al Mare causing uncontrolled land- remold the connection between the commu- slides. With emergency intervention aided nity and the broader region. The result is a by the local residents and relief workers of model for sustainable development based on Vernazza, he removed rocks, mud and debris the intrinsic value of Cinque Terre.

Q&A: Vincenzo Resasco Mayor of Vernazza, Cinque Terre

It took only nine months to restore Vernazza's city center after the disaster in October 2011. What emergency measures were taken and what long-term objectives were established? We had to work quickly and rebuild both the town’s security and its economic stability. I stayed in Vernazza with a group of 80 volunteers from 7 November 2011 to the end of March 2012. Everyone else was relocated. That was a tough winter, with many dangers due the hydro- geological conditions and the snowfalls. We received most material to rehabilitate Ver- Vincenzo Resasco nazza by sea, through the small town harbor. Supplies were stored in the church nearby. The question we asked ourselves after this experience was how we must envision our future. It is important to remember mistakes Better prevention measures are key to to better prepare for the future. It had to be properly addressing the threat of flash floods a shared mission so we created a laboratory for technicians to cooperate with the staff in Cinque Terre as in other areas around the from the region – the project is called Ver- Mediterranean and beyond. nazza Futura.

Who were the participants? Citizens, public administrators, techni- How else did you address immediately as people were still in danger. cians, entrepreneurs and tourism manag- hydro-geological risks and territorial There are still three or four land areas at risk. ers. This shared experience was struc- management? We contacted the owners of the dry-stone tured around four main working groups: There were all kinds of interventions in the walls to know who wanted to rebuild them. Quality of Life, Renewable Energy and wake of the emergency. The underground Some agreed; others not. They were just Environment, Agriculture, and Tourism. channels were reconstructed and new contained with iron nets. The government After discussing these themes together, banks were built with reinforced concrete cannot intervene on privately owned land. the participants set a series of priorities as we could not use stones for this purpose. With public money it is not always possible for action to address the needs. There were interventions that had to be done to invest on private land.

80 Reconstruction Efforts The challenge is now to expand this model to include privately-owned land. The Mayor Agriculture and Viticulture of Vernazza clearly recognizes that the In Cinque Terre, most people maintain their October 2011 crumbled down on the Ver- tourism economy in Cinque Terre must land by building terraced plots comprising nazza and Monterosso. invest part of its resources in its territory for several thousand kilometers of dry-stone cultivation and maintenance. Many already walls. The value of this unique landscape According to Laura Canale, Head of the work towards this goal: for example, the relies on the conservation of its fragile European and International Affairs Office of cooperative Cantina Sociale has been able region and, for many years, this has been Liguria Region, this has been an occasion to to maintain a margin of profitability for the duty of farmers cultivating the terraced rethink the developmental model for Cinque farmers in Cinque Terre. The cooperative vineyards. However, tourism has become a Terre. Interventions on the publicly-owned in fact buys grapes from its members at work alternative as a more lucrative way to lands of the Ente Parco have pointed in this 2.50 €/Kg, while in other areas the usual make a living, thus leading to a progres- direction by restoring and maintaining the price is 0.2 €/Kg. This difference reflects sive reduction of cultivated areas. Land traditional terraces and dry-stone walls in the higher costs a farmer in Cinque Terre abandonment has become a plague for the the Corniolo area, as well as by promoting a faces both in terms of yields and labor to territory that started to deteriorate and in territory-based tourism. work on the steep hills.

81 and rest stops, while stimulating economic Tourism and Woodlands growth with sound management inland. Over the past decades, the Cinque Terre to the trail that runs close to the coastline. National Park has made many efforts to During the high season there is much con- According to Maurizio Cattani, from the La encourage responsible and eco-sustainable gestion along the famous coastal trail (the Spezia section of the Italian Alpine Club, tourism that would respect the cultural “Via dell’amore” - Love Walk). many efforts have also been made to clear value of the site. However, the flash flood- and manage the upper and lateral hiking ing of 2011 has raised some serious ques- As Francesco Galleni, President of ATI 5 paths and in the development of applica- tioning on the future of tourism in Cinque Terre, the consortium that took over man- tions for iOs and Android mobile systems Terre, highlighting the need to stretch this agement of the Cinque Terre National Park, to ensure comprehensive information on commitment even further. Due to its rug- explains, “European funding allows us to access, conditions and practicality of all ged coast, the lack of long beaches and plan a massive recovery of the park, with the hiking trails. The long-term goal of the numerous hiking trails, Cinque Terre the specific purpose of solving this incon- this recovery plan has the added value of National Park is generally a hiking destina- venience by facilitating tourist access to the bringing investments in tourism, and to tion. It has always attracted daily visitors upper inland areas.” This will create favor- contribute to a sound management of the but most tourists tend to confine their visit able conditions for new economic develop- inland areas that is fundamental for the to the lower areas, to the five villages and ment activities, such as bed & breakfasts prevention of hydro-geological risk.

82 “Cinque Terre is illustrative of the evolution of human society and settlement over time, under the influences of the physical constraints and/or opportunities presented by their natural environment [...]”

– World Heritage Cultural Landscapes. A handbook for Conservation and Management. World Heritage Paper series #26, 1997

Image (Pages 80-81): Dry-stone walls and terraces in Monterosso. This page: The Cinque Terre.

Land Management SylvaMED: the importance of forests in the Mediterranean Industries and tourism operators have con- The Payments for Environmental Services centrated their development on the coast- (PES) is the economic instrument identi- line, leaving the inlands marginalized and fied by SylvaMED for enhancing the value abandoned. In Liguria Region, 80% of the of Mediterranean forests. PES are designed population lives on 20% of the land; how- to make the users of forest services and ever, the balance of its productive system consumers of forest products financial strongly depends on the rural areas. Daniela contributors to the costs of providing and Minetti from the Regional Agency for the maintaining the forests, thereby generating Environment (ARPAL) explains that “main- cash flows. In Liguria, SylvaMED financed taining Liguria’s fragile ecosystems has a project in the Polcevera Valley close to become a priority not only for preserving its . Laura Muraglia, Head of the proj- biodiversity and managing hydro-geological ect, stresses the importance of appropri- risks, but especially to renewing confidence ate forest management to protect against within inland areas.” soil erosion and river flooding. The most important achievement, as demonstrated in The SylvaMED Project explores the poten- Cinque Terre, is delivering the message to tial that forestry has for the development address and prevent hydro-geological and of rural areas in Liguria as well as in other geo-morphological risks, while restructuring regions around the Mediterranean. The solid development models for marginalized recognition of ecosystem services varies and fragile regions. significantly from country to country, but the Mediterranean forest is a special case For more images on Liguria: given its economic and cultural importance. www.revolve-water.com

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