Timber production in the Italian alps: an evolving paradigm in forest management.

Considering the level of profitability, a structural change is taking place in forest management in the Southern part of the Alps: on the basis of an analysis of 1,330 data on timber sales and of labour costs over the period 1955-2005, the paper points out a clear loss of competitiveness of local timber producers with respect to foreign markets. In spite of the 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. On the contrary, market conditions for fuelwood and in general for low-value wooden biomasses are clearly improving, with two clear consequences among others: i) a reduced motivation, in pure financial perspective, to produce industrial roundwood based on nature-oriented forestry practices (i.e. mixed uneven-aged forests, long rotation periods, natural regeneration, selective cuttings); and ii) a shift of the focus of forest policies from mountains to plains (i.e. from semi-natural forests to plantations). These market changes are inducing a change in the evolving paradigm of forest management: mountain forests have to be managed with the priority goals of maintaining a stable and rich environment and a diversified landscape as well as of regulating the water cycle and others. Timber production is anymore a priority, but a mean for reducing the social costs of maintaining the more general environmental and social benefits. Under this evolving perspective, a new role is being played by the Non Wood Forest Products (NWFPs), by the production for local consumption of wooden biomasses used for energy, by marketing the forest-based recreational, tourist and sport services. The paper, also on the basis of the EC COST Action E30 results on NWFPs, is presenting some explanatory case-studies on this new development path.