Abandonment or ambition: Sustaining nature and society through pastoralism in 21st century Abruzzo, Italy

The abandonment of rural and peripheral areas has been a dominant trend in Southern Europe since the rapid modernization of the 1960s. At the social level, this trend is leading to the disintegration of local communities and loss of traditional cultural heritage. At the ecological level, it is driving land use changes that threaten elements of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, which depend on human management. A human activity that is tightly intertwined with biodiversity patterns and processes is open-range animal husbandry. Here, we present a successful experience in sustaining this practice, with the relative social and ecological benefits, within the area of the National Park of A…