Small-scale forestry in the Italian Alps: from mass market to territorial marketing.

The paper analyses the industrial roundwood production trends in the Italian Alps in the last 50 years, pointing out the decreasing economic performance of local timber producers and the loss of competitiveness with respect to foreign markets. In spite of decision-makers and public opinion’s general believes, timber production in the Italian mountainous areas is not a valuable alternative to the declining role of agriculture. In this context, an increasing economic role in maintaining an active management of forest resources is being played by Non Wood Forest Products and Services (NWFP&S) as niche products. Two development paths both referring to the NWFP&S markets development are presented and factors playing a key role in successful NWFP&S marketing are briefly discussed. Evidences are provided to show that income deriving from NWFPs and fuelwood selling is not only provided annually and in relative constant amount, but also that the level of profitability in this business sector is much higher than in timber production and marketing.