Valutazione economica degli interventi agroambientali e loro impatto sulla qualità del paesaggio: il caso Val d'Agri

The quality of rural landscape is a resource for the whole community but, above all, an opportunity for the development of rural populations, which can be achieved through both the promotion of activities linked either to the tourist fruition of the territory or the sale of typical products, and the supply of services connected to the presence of wildlife (birdwatching), wildlife farms, etc... The present work was aimed at the assessment of the impact that changes in land use can have on the wildlife potentiality of the territory for the Lepus europaeus. Such a study was supported by GIS tools which allowed the land use construction referred to the two different moments of the survey (1954-2006); its results were interpreted through a “Land Use Transformation Matrix”. The zoning of the wildlife potentiality of the territory was carried out with the support of a multi-criteria analysis model based on the ecological parameters of the species and territory. Ultimately, we assessed the cost effectiveness of the realisation of an environmental improvement plan aimed at increasing the presence of Lepus europaeus in the territory of study.