Paesaggi rurali tradizionali. Metodi di ricerca e strumenti di conoscenza

This paper deals with “traditional rural landscape of historical interest”. These are portions of rural land which, while still in the process of evolving, retain evident testimonies of their origin and history, maintaining all the while a role in society and the economy. These include cultivation systems and buildings, or settlements used for agricultural, forest managing or pastoral purposes, which display traditional or historically interesting features. The value of this kind of cultural landscapes today transcends the productive activity and it is in its ability to testify local orography, history, geology, knowledge, land divisions, uses, customs and rites of the ancient societies. Traditional rural landscapes are also important in the maintenance of biodiversity, in the protection of the territory from hydrogeological instability, fires, floods.