Tourists and Local Stakeholders’ Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Summer Farms in the Eastern Italian Alps

Abstract

In the Alps, summer farms are temporary units, where cattle are moved during summer to graze on Alpine pastures, which provide multiple ecosystem services (ESs), many of which do not have a market value. This study aimed at understanding and comparing the perceptions of summer farms and of the associated ESs by local stakeholders and tourists in a study area of the province of Trento in the eastern Italian Alps. Thirty-five online questionnaires and two focus groups were realized with local stakeholders involved in the dairy value-chain. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 405 tourists in two representative summer farms. The perceptions of summer farms differed between local stakeholders, who mainly focused on provisioning ESs, and tourists, who mainly focused on cultural and regulating ESs. Both categories of actors rated positively eight different ESs associated with summer farms, but demonstrated a lack of knowledge of specific regulating ESs. This study showed that discussion among the different actors is required to increase mutual knowledge and to grasp the diversity of links between summer farms and ESs, in order to support public policies and private initiatives for promoting summer farm products and the sustainable development of mountain regions.

Does the ‘Mountain Pasture Product’ Claim Affect Local Cheese Acceptability?

“…Overall, both cheeses achieved good consumer acceptability, obtaining average liking scores ranging from 6.0 to 7.3. These results confirm what previous studies have stated, even without a real product tasting, as the quality of dairy products is an important aspect for both tourists and local farmers in the perception of summer mountain farms [ 3 , 20 ]. The significant effect of the product found for the whole panel (first row of Table 7 ) demonstrated that pasture cheese was significantly preferred over the stall one.…”

“…Several studies have focused on the effects of summer grazing on dairy product characteristics, demonstrating that mountain products are different from indoor feeding products, in terms of sensory attributes [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], volatile organic compounds (VOCs)’ profile [ 8 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], and fatty acid composition [ 11 , 17 , 18 ]. The quality of dairy mountain products is also a key aspect for consumers [ 19 ], for whom the production of high-quality dairy products is the most important ecosystem service among those provided by summer farms [ 20 ].…”

A Relational Approach to Studying Collective Action in Dairy Cooperatives Producing Mountain Cheeses in the Alps: The Case of the Primiero Cooperative in the Eastern Italians Alps

“…This is important, as it facilitates the creation of joint projects to develop and promote cheese, as demonstrated by Torre [6] in the case of Comté cheese, and De Roest and Mangi [54] in the case of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. In addition, coordination between producers and actors in the tourism sector seems to be crucial in increasing awareness of high-quality cheeses [36]. However, trust toward the provincial government and municipal authorities was at some of the lowest levels, even though their values were around 7.…”

“…Seventeen dairy cooperatives comprising 729 farmers are currently associated to the consortium. The cooperatives process approximately 80% of the milk produced in the province (120,000 tons a year) [36]. In 2018, the Primiero cooperative paid the highest price of all 17 associated cooperatives to its members: €0.66/kg [37].…”

Relationships between Organic Beef Production and Agro-Ecosystems in Mountain Areas: The Case of Catalan Pyrenees

“…During the last decades, in the European mountain areas the traditional livestock systems based on extensive management of pastures and meadows have been strongly affected by two processes: intensification of farmland and herds management in suitable areas and abandonment in marginal areas [18,19]. As a result, mountain agroecosystems have been profoundly altered, with either a conversion to arable crops and intensification of farmland management or reforestation of abandoned grasslands [14,20], with the resulting loss of the associated ES [10,21,22], which, although non-marketable, are highly valued by society [11,23] such as the maintenance of pasture and meadows guaranteed by animals' grazing. The main factors determining abandonment are family constraints, topographic and climatic conditions, economic and social elements [24,25] since, for example, farming profitability is lower and not sufficient for the families' sustenance.…”