The Chestnut Orchards in the Bolognese Apennines: A Vanishing Socio-ecological Habitat

This chapter focuses on chestnut orchards of the Bolognese Apennines (Italy), an iconic and ancient anthropogenic south-European landscape at risk of vanishing. In particular, it considers a historical ecology approach in order to analyze the past 80 years of its cultivation and proposes possible future management options in order to perpetuate this unique landscape feature also in the future. From a socio-economic point of view, the restoration and maintenance of chestnut orchards and their ecological value is closely linked to the presence of interested owners carrying out traditional management. At present, 115 growers mainly located in the lower parts of the mountains and dedicated to marroni valorization are reported as affiliated to the local chestnut growers' association. A specific effort to safeguard old-growth chestnut orchards could provide a representative example and encourage increased attention to chestnut cultivation, assuring the revitalization of this fundamental heritage of the Italian mountains.