Indicators for the assessment and certification of cork oak management sustainability in Italy

doi:10.3832/ifor2587-011

Indicators for the assessment and certification of cork oak management sustainability in Italy

Martina Pollastrini^(1-2) , Ugo Chiavetta⁽¹⁾, Andrea Cutini⁽¹⁾, Antonio Casula⁽³⁾, Sara Maltoni⁽³⁾, Sandro Dettori⁽⁴⁾, Piermaria Corona⁽¹⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 11, Issue 5, Pages 668-674 (2018)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2587-011
Published: Oct 04, 2018 - Copyright © 2018 SISEF

Research Articles

Collection/Special Issue: INCOTW - Sassari, Italy (2017)
International Congress on Cork Oak Trees and Woodlands
Guest Editors: Piermaria Corona, Sandro Dettori

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Sustainable forest management (SFM) is crucial for forest ecosystem productivity and conservation, especially in systems such as cork oak (Quercus suber L.) threatened by human activities and biotic and abiotic factors. In this study SFM indicators with particular reference to cork oak forests in the region of Sardinia (Italy) are proposed and tested. Sustainable and responsible management options specifically aimed at cork oak forest management and chain of custody certification are also provided. A set of ten indicators was proposed and assessed by an expert panel in cork oak management. Five indicators were also tested against data on structure, origin, health condition and management in 285 forest compartments managed by FoReSTAS (Regional Forest Agency for Land and Environment of Sardinia, Italy), including 361 sampling plots and 5345 trees. In order to investigate the priorities and perceptions of SFM experts and stakeholders, a survey was also carried out by completion of a questionnaire on the technical issues of cork oak woodland management. The survey results highlighted a need to improve environmental and economic performance by means of SFM and certification. The indicators tested in Sardinian cork oak woodlands showed that about 80% of the stands fulfilled management sustainability requirements. The suggested SFM indicators can effectively support proactive management and conservation measures, representing a valuable tool in the current context of growing environmental and socioeconomic awareness.

Keywords

Quercus suber, Sustainable Forest Management, Forest Management Planning, Non-wood Forest Products, Sardinia, Italy

Authors’ address

(1)

CREA, Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, v.le Santa Margherita 80, I-52100, Arezzo (Italy)

(2)

Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze delle Produzioni Agroalimentari e dell’Ambiente, p.le delle Cascine 28, I-50144 Firenze (Italy)

(3)

Agenzia Forestale Regionale per lo Sviluppo del Territorio e dell’Ambiente della Sardegna (FoReSTAS), v.le Merello 86, I-09123 Cagliari (Italy)

(4)

Università degli Studi di Sassari, Dipartimento Scienza della Natura e del Territorio, v. De Nicola, I-07100 Sassari (Italy)

Corresponding author

Martina Pollastrini
martpollas@gmail.com

Citation

Pollastrini M, Chiavetta U, Cutini A, Casula A, Maltoni S, Dettori S, Corona P (2018). Indicators for the assessment and certification of cork oak management sustainability in Italy. iForest 11: 668-674. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2587-011

Academic Editor

Marco Borghetti

Paper history

Received: Aug 07, 2017
Accepted: Aug 27, 2018

First online: Oct 04, 2018
Publication Date: Oct 31, 2018
Publication Time: 1.27 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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