Each wine has its own natural and cultural landscape. The present landscape is the result of the interaction of many natural and cultural components. Some Italian areas show an alternance between special natural land features and characteristic cultural arrangements; for example, many vineyards represent a a specific use of specific portions of land and, as such, may be considered to be a very important kind of geomorphologic heritage. These areas require special management aimed at safeguarding both the natural and cultural aspects of the landscape and implementing well-balanced programs for local development that promote the typical production of the wine and its special link with the landscape. A very useful tool for such territorial planning and management is the "Carta della Natura", a project (Italian Law 394/91) that studies Italian territory following a holistic and multi-scale approach (1:250,000: Landscape Units; 1:50,000 Habitats; 1:10,000: Ecotopes) in order to obtain complete knowledge of the territory and evaluate the state of the environment. By integrating many different types of information, it is possible to analyze the link between vineyard cultivation and landscape within the framework of geomorphological settings. Moreover, it is possible to recognize and identify a number of distinctive landscapes for submission as a protected geoheritage.Shape is synthesis. Following an Aristotelian approach in studying nature, we can read the land features as the expression of the endogenous and exogenous processes that mould the surfaces of the Earth. Human activities additionally make a further, often dramatic, impression on the territory, sometimes guided and inspired by the land forms, very often against them. Therefore, landscape is everywhere, but needs to be understood and recognized as a heritage; at the same time, it needs to be protected in order to become a resource. The quality of landscape impinges on individual and social well-being; moreover, as finally embedded in the European Landscape Convention (Council of Europe 2000) "Landscape is everywhere and is an essential element of quality of life and cooperates in the development of local cultures." The key role of the landscape is in its perceptive and symbolic power: it's what mankind interacts with, its first contact with the environment, and the source of resources, risk, and emotions.The concept of heritage (patrimonio in the Italian language, from the latin pater = father and munus = duty, but also property) implies a link, based on right and duty, between the individual and a number of values: mankind owns a heritage, at the same time has the duty to protect and manage it. The first step is knowledge and awareness:

No abstract

No abstract

Summary Farmland biodiversity is declining worldwide, and especially in Western countries largely owing to the large-scale intensification of agricultural practices. The Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax is a steppe bird adapted to agro-pastoral ecosystems in Western Europe, and is one of those many farmland species declining due to changes in agricultural production systems. In the EU, the majority of the extant population of this species is concentrated in the Iberian Peninsula. In Italy, the species has now disappeared from the mainland and is currently present only in Sardinia, where two populations, in the central-western areas, hold about two-thirds of the whole island’s numbers, with the rest scattered across numerous smaller nuclei. While there are indications and anecdotal information suggesting a possible population decline during recent decades, robust monitoring across different time periods that would allow a comparison of numbers is lacking in Sardinia. Here we repeated a Little Bustard survey performed in 2008 in two areas of western Sardinia: Abbasanta, which is one of the two strongholds for the species in Sardinia, and Campeda, which holds a small population (about 10 territorial males). Using the same methodology as in the past survey, we assessed current population size and density, and quantified changes over time. We found alarming declines, at a rate of around 30% in 14 years in both areas, with an estimated current population of 87 males in Abbasanta and 8 males in Campeda. We highlight current and emerging threats, such as the downsizing of the Special Protection Area of Abbasanta, and the encroachment of solar power plants within the same area.

<abstract> <p>The role of geological and geotematic mapping has recently come to the forefront in spatial/environmental management. This paper aims to present some cases of boundary extension in the use of contemporary cartographic tools (GIS and WEBGIS). The potential of digital maps and associated databases offers a wide range of applications, responding to the urgent need to make available to users (practitioners in the technical sectors, planners and society as a whole) the most important concepts to concretely achieve better land management, active risk prevention and sustainable resource enhancement. The application of geomorphological maps to issues closer to society can effectively create its approach to more properly technical-scientific issues, fostering a shared awareness, useful in protecting and enhancing the fragile Italian territory. The described experiences focus on GIS, which confirms its effectiveness both for social involvement in environmental issues, and in territorial/environmental management.</p> </abstract>