La pedra en sec. Materials, eines i tècniques tradicionals a les illes ...

***
*
• * 1
THE DRY -STONE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPE
***
interact in relation to the environmental
factors.
The "wall" biotope, although of
anthropic origin, is ecologically similar
to a natural rock surface colonised
by plants and animals. The wall's life
is effected by many factors, such as
the geographical position, the exposure,
the location and distance from
other environmental elements, the
technique and the construction materials
used and its condition of maintenance
(cracks, collapses etc.).
Studies and experiences have evidenced
many common similarities
between the microhabitat of the walls
and that of rock surfaces. Both biotopes,
in fact, present: a lithic (rocky)
environment, an interstitial environment
(between and/or under the
rocks), a musk and moss environment,
the micros oil (soil between
rocks). This environmental complexity
is reflected in the complexity of the
"dry-stone wall" ecosystem, creating
an environment with a high biodiversity
value. The species living in this
ecological niche follow the dynamics
typical of the ecotone environment
(belonging to the edge of two environmental
typologies), in which biotic
and abiotic elements are strongly
influenced by the surrounding environments;
moreover, this habitat also
has an important function as ecologi-
cal passage, allowing species to
move through environments which
are not adequate for them.
The safeguard of "dry-stone walls"
system is particularly important in the
islands' environ, characterised by a
fragile ecological equilibrium and particularly
rich in endemism.
THE FUTURE OF THE DRY-STONE
LANDSCAPE
The dry-stone landscape is usually
an hilly/mountainous environment or
linked to the traditional agriculture,
the economy of which is declining,
and where the introduction of new
development perspectives is of fundamental
importance.
It is a fragile system; its conservation
requires a constant maintenance
and its safeguard a complex
approach, also in consideration that
such landscapes have been opened
to new uses, as the tourism, alternative
to the traditional ones, but sometime
essential for their preservation.
Any policy of territorial development
must therefore begin from the potentialities
offered by these landscapes
being an "heritage", from the safeguard
of the shielded peculiar technique
and from the economies historically
generated.
The future of the economy of the
islands is linked to the renovation of
the traditional activities into new perspectives
of development, through the
survival and the valorisation of the rural
landscape and of its cultures, with a
multi-functional approach able to
combine the tourism and the agricultural
production of quality, always in
respect of the sustainability of the
landscape structure.
The cooperation and the interchange
of experience between areas with
similar characteristics constitute a tool
of great efficacy, in the framework of a
coherent and a long-term planning.