IntroduzioneNegli ultimi decenni è avvenuta una profonda trasformazione del settore forestale italiano, in linea con quanto osservato anche a livello europeo (MI-PAAF 2015). Il sorgere di nuove funzioni e ruoli produttivi e sociali attribuiti alle risorse forestali (sensu lato, incluse le aree verdi in ambito urbano, le piantagioni da legno e gli alberi fuori-foresta) hanno determinato una crescita dell'importanza, ma anche della complessità del sistema foresta-legno. In Italia esiste una significativa tradizione nella ricerca forestale e una radicata consapevolezza che l'innovazione e la competitività sono possibili grazie a un'alleanza tra iniziative di ricerca strategiche a scala nazionale con Abstract: Precision forestry: concepts, tools and perspectives in Italy.Recent advancements in informatics and communication technologies have led to an increasing employment of analytical and communication tools in forestry, including data from satellite, airborne, unmanned aerial vehichles, global positioning systems, and many sensors, devices and other geospatial tools. Precision forestry enables highly repeatable measurements, actions and processes to manage and harvest forest stands, simultaneously allowing information linkages between production and wood supply chain, involving resource managers and environmental community; all these factors are contributing to the wider goal of sustainable forest management. In this report, we review the most recent advances in the precision forestry applications and tools, with particular reference on advanced forest inventory, decision support systems, precision forest harvesting, and wood traceability. We discuss the opportunities and challenges towards implementing precision forest practices in forest management and planning and forest industry in Italy.

Forest certification in Calabria (Italy): attitudes, preferences and willingness to pay of manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain.Forest certification was born in the early 90s of the twentieth century in order to protect tropical and sub-tropical forests against a progressive deforestation and degradation. Forest certification is a valuable instrument for environmental protection and a useful tool of green marketing for forestwood chain enterprises. In the last decades, in developed countries there has been increased consumer awareness of environmental protection and environmentally friendly wood products. This consumers' attitude is related to the consumers' willingness to pay a premium price for environmentally friendly wood products. In the international literature, some studies have investigated the consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for several certified wood products with different prices, while few studies have analyzed the willingness to pay of manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain for certified wood products. In addition, in the international literature there is a knowledge gap concerning the manufactures or consumers' willingness to pay for local wood products compared to equivalent products from other geographical areas. Starting from these considerations, the main aims of this study are: (1) to analyze the wood manufactures' willingness to pay a premium price for certified wood products; (2) to investigate the wood manufactures' attitudes and willingness to pay for regional/local wood products. The study was conducted as part of the "Ambi.Tec.Fil.Legno" project involving 127 manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain located in Calabria region. At the end of the questionnaire survey, the information provided by 40 manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain were processed and analyzed (response rate 31.5%). The results show that the main factors that influence the purchase decisions of enterprises are the trust in the seller and the durability of the product. Concerning the manufactures' willingness to pay for certified wood products, 40% of sample of manufactures is willing to pay a premium price with a mean value of 1.55%. A similar percentage of wood manufactures and enterprises (40%) are willing to pay a premium price to purchase local wood material with a mean value equal to 3.25%. The results of this study can support the decision makers in the definition of new strategies to enhance the forest sector in Calabria highlighting the potential benefits of forest certification and use of local wood at regional level.

Models of stand volume and biomass estimation based on LiDAR data for the main forest types in Calabria (southern Italy). The AlForLab project is part of the Cluster MEA (Materials Energy Environment) addressed to the Calabria Region. Estimating the main dendrometric variables of Calabrian forests using models based on publicly available remote sensed data is one of the main purposes of the project. This paper describes the procedures used to develop several thematic maps (raster and vector) of timber volume and phytomass to be used in planning and management activities at both regional and forest property scale, as well as for felling plans, logging projects etc. We used public LiDAR data at medium-low resolution (1.6 pts m -2 ), acquired on about 90% of Calabrian territory in the frame of a national remote sensing programme of the Italian Ministry of the Environment. Field data from the second National Forest Inventory (INFC 2005) on 311 sample points were used for model calibration, as well as new field data acquired specifically for AlForLab project on 143 angle count samples. A series of regression models to predict volume and its corresponding aboveground biomass (dry and fresh weight) were developed and digital maps at different spatial resolutions were produced, as well as their estimate uncertainties. These models and their mapping products are also an important part of the new-establishing forest Decision Support System CFOR. The adopted models, though based on the same mathematical equation, have specific coefficients for different species and groups of species, according to a forest type classification system compatible with the fourth level of Corine Land Cover. In this way it is possible to apply the models without accessing more detailed forest type maps. All estimation methods and procedures are consistent with national forest inventory models, and with the other new tools proposed by AlForLab project to estimate timber volume, such as the regional tariffs and the field sampling inventory procedures. R 2 adjusted values (for models at the highest typological detail) are between 60% and 85%, whereas uncertainties of timber volume estimate (ESS%) range from 25% (for main forest species) up to 50% (for less spread forest types). All processing steps to produce digital maps were performed on open-source environment (R and QGIS).Keywords: ALS, LiDAR, Timber Volume, Forest Biomass, Estimation Models, CHM, AlForLab Received: Feb 09, 2017; Accepted: Apr 19, 2017; Published online: May 15, 2017 Citation: Scrinzi G, Floris A, Clementel F, Bernardini V, Chianucci F, Greco S, Michelini T, Penasa A, Puletti N, Rizzo M, Turco R, Corona P, 2017. Modelli di stima del volume e delle fitomasse del soprassuolo arboreo delle principali formazioni forestali della Calabria mediante dati LiDAR. Forest@ 14: 175-187 [online 2017-05-15]

Strategies for the promotion of the forest-wood chain in Calabria (southern Italy): the stakeholders' point of view. In Italy, the value of bioeconomy is 251 billion € and more than 1.7 million of workforce is employed in this sector. The forest-wood chain cover about 15% of total value of bioeconomy. The consultation draft of Italian Bioeconomy Strategy was presented on November 22, 2016. This document identifies three macro-sectors (agrifood, marine bioeconomy, forestry and biobased industry) with the respective objectives and priorities. In addition, some Italian regions are organizing to devise a regional strategy detailing the key points of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy and Italian Bioeconomy Strategy in accordance with local peculiarities. In order to develop a regional strategy for the forest sector it is important to investigate the social demands and needs involving the local stakeholders. The aim of the study is to investigate the stakeholders' opinions of Calabria Region (Italy) about the priorities of forest-wood chain to include in the future regional bioeconomy strategy. The stakeholders' opinions were collected through the face-to-face administration of a structured questionnaire to 99 local stakeholders. The respondents assessed the importance of a set of objectives aimed to enhance the forest-wood chain at local level (economic exploitation of wood products; diffusion of forest certification; orientation of production to market demand; coordination of forest-wood-energy chain's actors; implementation of environmental and cultural forest values; improvement of the level of mechanization in wood processing; improvement of the efficiency of forestry workers). In addition, the respondents assessed the capacity of some specific activities to achieve the above mentioned objectives. The collected data were used to define two strategies aimed to enhance the forest-wood chain in Calabria Region. The results show that for the interviewed stakeholders the main three objectives are: the implementation of environmental and cultural forest values, the improvement of the efficiency of forestry workers, and the diffusion of forest certification. In addition, the stakeholders highlighted the importance of the activities of environmental education for the citizens and the professional training courses for the forest operators. Finally, the diffusion of forest certification is a key issue for the interviewed stakeholders. This issue can be achieved facilitating the access of the certified products to the market and creating a chain-of-custody system for the wood products.

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