Landscape conservation and valorization by satellite imagery and historic maps. The case of Italian transhumance routes

Abstract

In order to verify the potential use of old transhumance routes as tourist resource, the paper intends to illustrate a methodology to assess their conservation state, both in terms of track accessibility and viability, as well as in terms of heritage presence, and shows the results of a survey conducted on the Castel di Sangro—Lucera route (Molise region, Southern Italy). The methodology proposed represents a first step for integrated tourism planning as to the old transhumance routes in Southern Italy, starting from the digitization of the Custom Office historic maps and continuing on through an urgently needed program of conservation and restoration of the tracks supported by cartography and satellite imagery techniques.