Changes in the Use of Natural Resources and Human Impact in the Karst Environments of the Venetian Prealps

Abstract

In the Venetian Prealps the old model of resources use was for many aspects of sustainable type, in equilibrium with the natural dynamics. Episodes of strong impact occurred only in some particular areas and in specific economical and political situations. After the Second World War dramatic changes in the resources management have taken place, induced by the urban and industrial development. The traditional system of self-sustained economy has completely collapsed and has been replaced by an open economy more dependent on that of the large urban sprawl of the plain. Such development is clearly incompatible with the local environmental dynamics and it is difficult to be modified, because it triggers self-sustaining processes. The problem to individuate new more compatible directions for the development is, for a large part, a cultural problem and it may not be solved without a cultural revolution. Local people must be helped to understand the karst geo-ecosystem, the natural realm, the landscape, the local history, and the cultural heritage. Starting from such knowledge, local people have to develop a strong sense of belonging to their own geographical units and to become and to feel protagonists, responsible of their own development, capable to lead it.