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Table 16.3	Olive groves in the municipality of Trevi (technical data)
Information		2013
Number of farms		387
Utilised agricultural area (ha)		1074
Total utilised agricultural area (ha)		1968
Cadastral area (ha)		2014
Number of farms without olive groves		27
Number of farms with olive groves		360
Olive cultivation area (ha)		675
Total olive cultivation area (ha)		806
Cadastral olive cultivation area (ha)		833
Introduction and/or support of Integrated Production Method (Measure 212_A) (ha)		223
Introduction and/or support of Organic Production Method (Measure 212_B) (ha)		168
Ground cover to prevent carry-over of pollutants from soil to water (Measure 212_H)		4
(ha)
Total (Agri-Environmental Measure 212) (ha)		395
Natural handicap payments to farmers in mountainous and other areas (Measure 211)		228
(ha)
Source SIAN database 2013

utilised area (Table 16.2). The remaining area is occupied mainly by woods (209 ha), pasture and fodder crops (90 ha), cereals (43 ha), and vineyards (11 ha).

Therefore, the socio-economic characterization of the study area is strongly influenced by the presence of olive-growing holdings: 360 out of the 387 agricultural enterprises located in the municipality grow olive groves. As regards production techniques, integrated production (223 ha) and organic production (168 ha) methods are applied the most. Furthermore, olive-producing holdings benefit from payments to farmers in mountainous areas or other areas with handicaps (a total of 228 ha; Table 16.3).

16.3Materials and Methods

The methodology adopted was structured into two steps: (i) the conception and construction of a database suitable for planning and managing the Traditional Agricultural Landscape (TAL) and (ii) launch of the participatory process.

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16.3.1Devising an Operative Database for Planning

and Management of Olive Groves in the Municipality of Trevi

A database was developed for the planning and management of olive groves in the municipality of Trevi at the ‘reference parcels’ level, in which the minimum unit of cultivation is defined as a continuous land surface geographically bounded within a plot with a single land use.2

The database was built by aggregating SIAN data in a series of ad hoc processed map themes. The following information has been attributed to each land parcel:

1.Number of olive trees calculated through a GIS zonal analysis;

2.Average elevation of each olive grove polygon calculated through GIS zonal statistics from Digital Elevation Model (DEM);

3.Average slope of each olive grove polygon calculated through GIS zonal statistics from DEM;

4.Average inter-visibility of each olive grove (land parcel) from lookouts at the historical centre of Trevi or from other significant viewpoints along the main trekking route in the area, the ‘Sentiero degli Ulivi’ (Path of Olive trees);

5.Classification of the area (mountainous or disadvantaged) through GIS processing of data from the database of crop polygons and regulation maps;

6.Presence of slope embankments without stone walls as identified by the Numerical regional Technical Cartography (in Italian Carta Tecnica Regionale Numerica, CTRN) scale, 1:5000;

7.Presence of dry-stone walls through GIS zonal analysis from the regional CTRN scale, 1:5000, and from the database of particle polygons;

8.Estimate of the volume of dry-stone walls per polygon, value estimated at 161 cubic metres per hectare;

9.Size of polygons falling within the area of the Olive Grove Park (Parco degli oliveti) as indicated in the Urban Master Plan (in Italian Piano Regolatore Generale, PRG) of the municipality of Trevi;

10.Classification of olive groves according to the number of trees per surface unit as marginal (trees/hectare < 204), traditional (trees/hectare between 204 and 400), or intensive (trees/hectare > 400);

11.Labour use (hours per tree) for the three types of olive groves (marginal olive grove = 1.36; traditional olive grove = 1.11; intensive olive grove = 0.80); data obtained from direct interviews;

12.Olive oil production (kilograms per tree) for the three types of olive groves (marginal olive grove = 1.40; traditional olive grove = 1.40; intensive olive grove = 1.52); data obtained from direct interviews;

2This definition was enforced by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1593/2000 for the identification of agricultural parcels when carrying out administrative checks on the areas declared by farmers.

260	B. Torquati et al.

13.Cost of olive oil production in olive groves without dry-stone walls (euros per tree) for the three types of olive groves (marginal olive grove = 24; traditional olive grove = 20; intensive olive grove = 15); data obtained from direct interviews;

14.Cost of olive oil production in olive groves with dry-stone walls (euros per tree) for the two types of olive groves with dry-stone walls (marginal olive grove = 28.30; traditional olive grove = 22); data obtained from direct interviews;

15.Cost of the restoration of dry-stone walls, estimated at €400/cubic metres;

16.Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) emissions based on the number of trees per hectare; data estimated assuming CO2eq emissions in its tenth year, leccino olive cultivar, planting distance of 5.5 5.5, and in dry conditions: tCO2eq/ hectare = 1.419, where tCO2eq is total CO2eq;

17.CO2eq sequestration based on the number of trees per hectare; data estimated assuming CO2eq sequestration in the tenth year, leccino olive cultivar, planting distance of 5.5 5.5, and in dry conditions: tCO2eq/hectare = 2.03; and

18.Revenue from hypothetical carbon credits for long-lasting wood products: €60/ tCO2 (Source: project LIFE07 ENV/IT/000388).

In particular, the following base maps were used: (1) geographic database of 2006 cadastral polygons, transformed into Gauss-Boaga coordinate system (East fuse, Datum: Roma 1940), for an extension comprising all the cadastral sheets that intersect the limits of the study area; (2) alphanumeric database of 2013 crops recorded in SIAN for all the cadastral sheets that intersect the limits of the study area; and (3) alphanumeric database of the 2011, 2012, and 2013 actions and measures under Rural Development Plan (RDP) recorded in SIAN for all the cadastral sheets that intersect the limits of the study area.

Given the unavailability of an updated SIAN cartography and time misalignment between the SIAN database (2013) and cadastral maps (2006), resulting in a mismatch between SIAN and RDP data and cadastral polygons (no geometries of cartographic limits for each sub-polygon crop were available), further action was required. In order to generate a dataset of SIAN and RDP information, the 2013 SIAN data records have been associated with cadastral polygons in MS Access with a relationship of one ! many, which associated each sub-particle row of the SIAN data with a 2006 parcel polygon, using a unique join key.

The association of one ! many has been carried out exclusively on alphanumeric records, irrespective of their geometry, in order to link each parcel record to one or more crop records corresponding to the same cadastral polygon. Results are encouraging, since the match equals to 92%.

The economic analysis of production costs and revenue was carried out through nine direct interviews (three for each type of olive grove), which allowed us to assess for each type of olive growing: labour use (hours per tree), olive oil production (kilograms per tree), olive oil production costs in olives groves without dry-stone walls (euros per tree) and with dry-stone walls (euros per tree), and cost of restoration of dry-stone walls (euros/mc). In particular, dry-stone wall restoration

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costs were estimated using information provided by two local agronomists, while the CO2eq balance (tCO2eq/hectare = 1419) was derived from existing literature (Proietti et al. 2014). Finally, the classification of olive groves based on ‘market propensity’ was carried out, considering the ownership structure and annual consumption units satisfied by the production, where one consumption unit has been estimated as 12 kg of extra-virgin olive oil per year.

16.3.2 Participatory Planning Process

A participatory planning process was launched in 2015, and five meetings were organized involving 64 participants (farmers, technicians, and public institutions). The first step of the participatory process was the creation of an advanced Web-based content management system. Map data and spatial information have been published and shared on the website in order to make them available in the decision-making processes. Information and data were shared first with the technicians of the municipality of Trevi and with then with staff of the local Mountain Community, who have taken an active part in the research unit. At a later stage, stakeholders were involved, and they participated in the three meetings held in the town hall of Trevi.

A computer-based system was developed to provide all the parties involved in participatory planning a virtual working table, thereby making the participatory governance hypotheses accessible at all levels of stakeholders, from the operational level of farmers to the decision-making level of local public administrators. The working method is based on the construction of thematic maps that can be consulted directly on the website, which provides the opportunity to build queries on proposed topics, make reports, upload photographs, and add personal reflections and comments on project-action proposals.

The main objectives were to (1) search for and build a form of territorial cooperation aimed at integrating environmental and landscape improvement actions in agricultural practices; (2) search for and build new forms of rural governance as a vehicle for enhancing farmers’ environmental commitments, and as a way of developing responsibility in local communities for the implementation of landscape policies; (3) disseminate the importance of protecting the historical olive-growing landscape and continuing the cultivation of olives against abandonment, also the light of the new Directives adopted in the context of the CAP 2014–2020 and aimed at protecting the environment by introducing specific targeted measures to promote linkages between tourism and agriculture; and (4) highlight potential benefits to be gained by the application of olive groves in the municipality of Trevi or part thereof for UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Actions to be taken were discussed with the stakeholders (technicians of the municipality of Trevi and the Mountain Community, farmers, representatives of trade unions, and workers of social cooperatives) and then submitted in the form of a questionnaire during the last two meetings with only farmers. Actions were