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Top1. Introduction
The creation of protected natural areas and parks represents an opportunity for experimentation and the dissemination of forms of sustainable local development and proper land management. The potential success of policies for both natural conservation and the socio-economic development of individual parks are dependent on a variety of factors: the size of the area concerned, the socio-cultural context, inherent characteristics of the area, the territorial policy of relevant organisations, the credibility, and effectiveness of Park organisations. It is clear that the primary reason for which protected parks are established is the protection of nature. However, given the presence of human settlements within the protected areas, the environment is seen not only within a defensive and protectionist framework yet also from the perspective of primary activities: research, tourism, public services, handicrafts, local food production are all sectors which may be considered as compatible with environmental protection, linked to forms of territorial incentives, thus recuperating depressed areas, not only economically, yet also socially.
The concept of park construction is identified with appropriate protection and land management activities, redefining practices and objectives through the introduction of environmentally conscious approaches. The construction of the park in any case represents an action of “care for the territory” (Gambino, 2001) which together with the maintenance of primary productivity also tends towards environmental remediation and its social, cultural and recreational use (Selicato, 2003).
The objective of this study is the identification of the existence of relations between the characteristic landscape of the park agricultural landscape within the present study and the economic activities of the areas involved, with the aim of identifying development opportunities, whether already put into place, or potentially active.