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“The macchia is a garden”: wildfires, pastoralism, and landscape ideologies in the Aurunci Mountains, Italy - Fire Ecology
Background The Aurunci Mountains, in Southern Lazio, represent one of the most wildfire-affected areas in Italy. The authors conducted a series of narrative interviews with specific stakeholders, including pastoralists, farmers, firefighters from the Civil Protection, forest rangers from the disbanded Italian State Forestry Corps (Corpo Forestale dello Stato), and personnel from the local natural park. Interviews focused on the topics of land use change, change in space and landscape perception, and traditional fire practices. The authors aimed to identify diverse perspectives and narratives that underpin participants’ attitudes towards land use change and fire management. Results The research results highlight how different social actors present distinct landscape ideologies and perceptions of the environment, which inform their point of view regarding land use and fire management. On one hand, local pastoralists present a landscape ideology that emphasizes human intervention in the landscape, including the use of traditional fire practices for pasture renewal. On the other hand, representatives of local authorities took a hard stance on fire exclusion and minimal human intervention in the landscape; however, recent changes in local policies might indicate a shift in this attitude. Some participants also expressed a moderate, integrative viewpoint that shows some potential to bridge the cultural and ideological divergence between different groups. Many participants expressed a sense of grief related to the changing landscape and the disruption of the social-ecological system in the area. Conclusions Based on these findings, the authors argue that mediation between stakeholders with different landscape ideologies is essential to improve wildfire resilience and fire management in the Aurunci Mountains. However, harmonizing these views is challenging due to conflicting perceptions of landscape and the relationships between people and the environment they live in. Thus, achieving consensus on wildfire prevention and management remains a significant challenge. As a first step towards a possible solution, the authors propose adopting participatory and transformative approaches in future research to promote a narrative of shared, desirable views of future fire management in the area.
