The protection of historical rural lands-capes in Italy

Abstract

Historical and rural landscapes have a high cultural value, a sum of each site’s natural environment and man-made modifications. Its value lies in the popular knowledge underlying the creation of such spaces. Harmonious landscapes result from the awareness of rural village residents to regional environmental factors; this is the core of the wisdom of rural communities, accrued through time and expressed in local identities and cultural features. While international organizations promoting heritage conservation acknowledge the value of historical and rural landscapes, the problems they face threaten their permanence, damage the delicate social and cultural fabric which sustains them, and affect their environmental balance. Various measures have proven successful in several regions of the world. As an example of these, this article presents a paradigmatic case of study in Italy, and mentions historical and rural landscapes in Mexico, to illustrate the cultural and environmental consequences expected if certain suggestions were to be left unattended.