Lake Trasimene is South-Central Italy’s biggest lake. It covers 120 square kilometres but is less than 7 metres deep. Without any natural outlets nor any major tributaries, the lake faces serious problems linked to a decline in both the quantity as well as the quality of the water.

The Lake Trasimene catchment area spreads out over some 380 square kilometres. The forests, which occupy around 6,500 hectares, or 25% of the dry land area, are made up in the main of oak formations (Quercus pubescens, Q. cerris and Q. ilex).

The themes addressed in the context of the RECOFORME project derive from the objectives that feature in the Ten-Year Regional Forestry Plan which highlights the importance of coppice and the opportunity for innovation as regards forestry techniques and strategy.

The significance for the European Community of the themes under consideration here is revealed by the extent of coppice throughout Europe: 30% of European woodlands are coppice, in Italy more than 60% and in Umbria 85% (some 256,000 hectares / 635,000 acres).

Aims

The aim is to generate a new dynamic for effective, ongoing forest resources management. The specific objectives are:

• Sustainable management of woodlands.
• Protection and improvement of natural environments.
• Enhanced forestry management to achieve better management of the water resources in the catchment area.
• The establishment of a legal framework to guide woodland management in areas where the patterns of land ownership do not permit coordinated land use and development.
• Assessment of the effects over the medium and long term of the proposals for woodland management.

The project was designed with a view to:

• Reaching a wider public to facilitate the adoption of innovative approaches for coppice management.
• Ensuring the natural renewal of woodlands.
• Improving the stability and protection of woodlands.
• Carrying out silvicultural activities having only a slight impact on landscape and the environment.
• Increasing the role of the forest as a carbon sink.
• Guaranteeing the conservation and improvement of biodiversity in woodlands.
• Obtaining the commitment and involvement of each landowner in managing the woodlands of the whole catchment area.
• Modulating the management of woodlands as a function of the hydrological characteristics of a catchment area, as much to obtain better soil protection as to improve the hydrological balance throughout the area.

The proposed innovative approaches are based on experimental activity carried out over recent years in Umbria in pilot zones. Putting into effect the Plan for the Lake Trasimene Catchment Area has given those responsible the chance to verify the application of this new innovative scheme over a very extensive area characterised by a much fragmented pattern of land ownership.

Stages of the project

The different stages of the project are:

• Analysis of cartographic evidence and other extant data concerning the Lake Trasimene catchment area.
• Design of the Plan for Trasimene Woodlands.
• Creation of a GIS (Geographic Information System) to accompany the Plan for Trasimene Woodlands.
  Modelling and simulation
• Analysis of the effects of the proposals for intervention (paying particular attention to hydrological assessment).
• Dissemination of the results for use in woodland development and improvement over a greater area. In the case of Lake Trasimene (closed catchment area), this stage will enable estimates to be made of the correlation between silvicutural activity and the area’s overall hydrological status.