On January 22nd, 2019 the first stakeholder workshop of the Italian innovation region was held in Fiera di Primiero, Italy. The event was a fantastic opportunity to talk about the effects of the “Vaia” storm, which hit the area at the end of October 2018, and about market, wood supply chain, enviromental tourism, breeding, the role of professionals in forest management, and public and private interests. During the discussion, which was moderated by Paolo Mori (Compagnia delle Foreste s.r.l. – Italian firm working on communication, research and innovation in the forest and environmental sectors), all stakeholders (i.e. public and private landowners, woodsmen, Alpine Club, Tourist Office, breeders, forestry professionals) recognized how the storm compromised key forest ecosystem services and agreed that immediate action is needed to fix the problem.
The stakeholder interaction followed the presentation of a video produced by Compagnia delle Foreste s.r.l. in collaboration with Dr. Giorgio Vacchiano (Assistant Professor – University of Milan) and sponsored by various forest organizations, that is dedicated to the territories hit by the storm to sensitize people and stimulate reflections about natural hazards and forest regeneration potentials (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLdXoZE88mE).
In the coming weeks, the opinions expressed by the stakeholders will help the innovation region team develop two-three alternative scenarios of ecosystem service management, restoration and valorization, which will be the topic of a second workshop. One scenario will eventually be chosen as the prototype, namely an innovative management approach that will be shared among other project partners and promoted at the European level at the end of the project.
For updates (in Italian) about the project’s activities and achievements in the Italian innovation region, you can visit the website of the Province of Trento, at the following link:
https://forestefauna.provincia.tn.it/Pubblicazioni-e-progetti/Progetti/Progetto-InnoForESt