An evaluation role of vineyards in preserving aesthetic values of rural landscape

MSE Krzysztof Stepien(1)

(1)Institute of Landscape Architecture, Wroclaw University of Environmental

and Life Science, Poland.

krzysztof.stepien@up.wroc.pl

Abstract

This research has done on Cinque Terre National Park, as a example of traditional

Mediterranean vineyards region, covered in a past by 1000 hectares of vineyards and 2000

hectares of arable lands. Since the middle of industrial revolution when railway between

Genoa and La Spezia and road between La Spezia and Levanto were built, a meaning of

cultivated land has decreased and now the surface of vineyards equals around 50 hectares

only. The surface of vineyards is also a result of natural processes, such a like floods and

environmental features, especially steep slopes. The process of abandonment agricultural

activities has been influencing on degradation of landscapes values, especially cultural and

aesthetic, which are related with arable terraces supported by dry stone walls. Nowadays the

government of Italian country, region of Liguria, province La Spezia and governments of

main communes, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corgnila, Manarola and Riomaggiore are trying to

restore old activities and to protect them against of natural and human influences, such a like

tourism, which are the main reasons of dropping down the viticulture.

Key words: Cinque Terre, vineyards landscape, landscape’s values, rural landscape.

Introduction

Development of rural landscape depends from environmental conditions and human interests.

Human interests influence on rural landscapes functions, which are productive, public and

non productive functions (Cymerman, et al. 1992). From a rural landscape are expected

productive functions especially, but every rural landscape has all of these functions, but in

a different composition. Aesthetic of rural landscapes is defined by the harmonic proportion

of these functions to each other (Tatarkiewicz, 1962). A proportion between a functions of

a landscape depends from its natural conditions, but also human influence. Nowadays a role

of human influence is growing, especially wide spread and fast growing are urbanization and

industrialization processes and increasing area of mono-functional agriculture. These

developments can disturb balance between the landscapes functions and thus its aesthetics,

but protection against these processes can be achieved by legislation fragments or areas of

landscape, cultivating agricultural land, establishing plantations which are existing

permanently in the landscape, such as viticulture (Stepien, 2012, a). Based on a size of

protected objects or areas, a duration of time an object or an area existed, is possible to

evaluate the contribution of each element of a landscape within a protected landscape. And

it’s a main goal of this paper.

Material and method

Cinque Terre National Park is located in north and west part of Italy, at Liguria coastline

(Fig. 1). Its surface is 3860 hectares and it’s the smallest national park in Italy, and also the

most densely populated, with about 5000 residents (www.parconazionale5terre.it). This park

focuses on protecting against of processes of abandonment agricultural activities on a part of

any industrial society, which has led to landscape degradation.

Fig. 1 Location and area (C) of Regional Park of Cinque Terre and Portoverne in Europe and Italy (A) and Ligurian coastline (B).

In the case of this park instead of protecting a nature against people, the park is to bring

people to act on the landscape by cultivating and taking care of it. In this region are born quite

known quality wines Cinqueterre and Sciacchetra from mainly grape of ‘Bosco’, ‘Albarola’

and ‘Vermentino’.

The Cinque Terre National Park is pretending also to sustainable development of tourism,

which is a coherence the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and

enhancing at the same time opportunities for the future (www.parconazionale5terre.it, follow

World Tourism Ogranisation - UNWTO). The main goal of this park is to restore

a harmonious balance between nature and human elements, but not through a way of

protecting nature from an invasive and destructive human activities, but to preserve thousands

of km of dry stone walls created over centuries by people. The cultural and aesthetic values of

landscape without these terraces wouldn’t be so high (Stepien, 2012, b) (pic. 1, 2).

Pic. 1, 2 Views on a fragment of National Park of Cinque Terre with terraces and without.

The goals of National Park of Cinque Terre, which are follows, to protect cultural values of

landscape, to promote a knowledge about it and to increase a contribution of society in

development it are realizing by:

Environmental Quality Label for tourist accommodation,

Information about local environmental issues and actions to makes tourism less impact

for the environment,

Cinque Terre Cards, whose proceeds are reinvested to prevent phenomena of hydro-

geological collapse or to recover uncultivated lands.

Good quality service make services compatible with environmental and natural resources

protection, the ability to control and reduce environmental impacts related to the tourist sector

is an essential requirement to ensure the maintenance of the asset in the Park, what conformed

to local reality resulting completely innovative in applying environmental certification of

tourist accommodation (World Heritage Committee 37, 2013; www.parconazionale5terre.it).

Results and discussion

Actually the surface of vineyards in the area of National Park of Cinque Terre equals 50

hectares. It’s a result of flood which happened in 2011 (World Heritage Committee 37, 2013).

After that the surface has decreased from 80 hectares, what was 8,0 % only of 1000 hectares

which vineyards covered in a past (Bienczyk and Bonkowski, 2009). The terraced area over

the centuries has reached the maximum area of 2000 hectares and height of 450-500 meters

above sea level (www.parconazionale5terre.it).

But vine isn’t actually and wasn’t in a past only one activity being a part of cultivated

landscape, because besides of vineyards have been cultivating lemon and olive orchards and

another vegetable gardens. Because of that, not only grapes and vineyards have been

protecting aesthetic of rural landscape. The vine, olive and citrus trees, the main crops of this

area, with a prevalence of viticulture, were cultivated with the ancient wisdom of centuries

ago, with very few changes compared to the technological innovations that have dominated

agricultural sectors instead of other areas of Italy or the world. Opposite situation took place

in Nemea vineyard’s region for example, the largest production zone of red wines in Greek,

where only geographical space is the same over the centuries (Kourakou-Dragona, 2012).

Despite of the vast portions affected by the installation carried out in terraces to the Cinque

Terre (pic. 3, 4, 5), the working conditions in which local farmers were subjected were very

hard, partly because of the difficult and often impossibility to mechanization of farm work.

Nowadays besides of monorail system the viticulture is reviving by irrigation, renovation of

retaining walls and creating cooperatives, Cantina of Cinque Terre.

Pic. 3, 4, 5 Monorail installation and another ways of carried out in terraces to the

Cinque Terre to revive viticulture, drainage and reconstructing retaining walls.

Around VII century one from the first permanent inhabitants in this area fortified a St.

Christopher’s hill and after that fact generation after generation, man created cultural

landscape consists of compact settlements on a rocks and terraces for cultivation the vine

especially (fig. 2). Nature in the Cinque Terre, free to thrive because of the abandonment of

land in the middle of the industrial revolution, has reclaimed a land deeply and man

domesticated by farmers whose tools for centuries have dissected the mountain in order to

have narrow strips of arable land. For centuries, from the year 1000 AD, the inhabitants of the

Cinque Terre adopted the steep slopes to obtain strips of arable land supported by dry stone

walls. Developing cultivated areas in order to survive in areas once covered by dense forest

cover. This monumental work of man, that has shaped the verticality of slopes in a huge

number of small and tiny plots of land each supported by a dry stone wall, is now threatened

by abandonment what involves degradation, often irreversible (www.parconazionale5terre.it).

Fig. 2 Contribution of landscape elements and their development in a time.

Not only the landscape but culture, culinary and traditions as well, and the customers of these

land are witnesses of fatigue, work and desperate efforts. These traces left by local people and

deleted by nature require an intervention from nature conservation and recovery in a long-

term perspective. The villages confirm a harmony in a contact between man and nature. The

settlements have developed in respect of natural and environmental values, protecting the area

from the danger of an excessive building expansion (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 Main villages of National Park of Cinque Terre with old cultivated areas around of them (zones nr 3) and natural points of interests (zones nr2) and fragment of border.

All of the villages are poli-functional and they are founded in Middle Ages. Theirs old towns

have round shapes as a result of topography mostly, Vernazza, Corgnila, Manarola or

architectural dominant such a like church or monastery in Monterosso and Riomaggiore.

Buildings are located very density especially close to the sea, but the villages have also

a reserve from buildings on a back sides of them, parallel to the main roads. An excuse is the

oldest town in this region Moterosso, which is quite wide spread and its old town is separated

by hill from a newer part of the city (fig. 4). This fact is a result of easier accessible

topography from the land and from the sea, than around another towns in the region (fig. 5).

Besides of Monterosso and Riomaggiore the border between productive and unproductive

functions of rural landscape is clear, other problem is that border between arable lands and

abandonment, which is going to decrease.

Fig. 4 Monterosso town with cultivated area (zones nr 3) and nature interests (zones nr 2) around.

Fig. 5 Coastline villages located in National Park of Cinque Terre, Vernazza (A), Corgnila (B), Manarola (C), Riomaggiorre (D).

Conclusions

Sustainable development can’t be an empty word without meaning but has to be a real

backbone of the policy to share interest in development, bringing to life and participating in

an area, like in Cinque Terre has started, but too late for reducing degradation of its landscape

values (European Landscape Convention, 2000).

So for protecting an aesthetic of rural landscape is necessary to protect main activities of

society and productive functions which are a symbol of rural landscapes and limited new one,

like tourism in Cinque Terre, which has so huge impact on the landscape because of the area

is visit by 3,5 till 5,0 millions of tourist, every august only.

In traditional areas of vineyards which are a part of cultural landscape (ICOMOS, 1997), the

civilization and space development of settlements and their surroundings, which have the

biggest influence on a changes of a landscape has to be control by legislation to avoid

a processes of urban sprawl, but not only by natural and environmental features like in a case

of some Cinque Terre villages, Vernazza, Manarola or Corgnila.

Besides of economically analyses of an investments, they should be proceed also by an

analyses of an influence on environment and landscape also to limit degradation theirs values

(Stepien, 2012, b).

Acknowledgements

The paper is a part of project “The role of vineyards and grape in creating a landscape”, which

is co-financed by the European Union as part of the European Social Fund.

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