Valorization of an old sheep trail as a new opportunity for sustainable public recreation: a case study in southern Italy.

Within the valorization process of rural landscape for public recreation, an increasing interest is currently registered on ancient sheep-tracks. Indeed, these paths constitute the historical infrastructure of the transhumance system, that covered all over Europe thousands of kilometers, forming the routes of shepherds, merchants, warriors and pilgrims. In Italy, these tracks - known as “tratturi“ - are landscape-bound, while the practice of transhumance has recently been included in the intangible UNESCO World Heritage. In addition to their cultural and scenic value, today some old sheep-tracks are being rediscovered as new rural hiking trails. However, they present some technical drawbacks, that make them barely usable by tourists for walking in the nature. Taking as a case study an old sheep-track connecting the two cities of Matera and Montescaglioso (Basilicata Region - Southern Italy), a GIS approach was applied, to evaluate the possibilities to use this path as an hiking trail, highlighting the difficulties to be solved for its valorization. The final results showed how, thanks to a GIS tool, it is possible to compare different types of data, from historical to modern ones, so relating the route with all elements of tourist interest, evaluating its potential for excursion purposes as well.