National park policy and mountain depopulation:. A case study in the Abruzzo region of the Central Apennines, Italy

The Italian mountains, particularly the peninsular ones, are undergoing a period of change. Following a social and economic crisis that caused their massive depopulation in the past thirty years, we are entering a new phase in which interest in this difficult environment has revived considerably. The rugged landscapes of the central Apennines harbor phenomena of significant ecological and cultural value. Man's ancient presence here is indicated by numerous historic town centres dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries, perfectly preserved in their original "castle" forms. A large network of national parks which is motivated both by precious wildlife areas, rural landscapes and by the historic communities has recently been instituted through a national law. It provides also the last hope for returning that disappearing social vitality to these mountains. The study presented here was carried out in Abruzzo, a region of the central Apennines which, due to the presence of very ancient architectural centres contained in vast national parks, constitutes an illustrative point of reference for the environmental protection policy and territorial recovery of all the Italian mountain ranges. The aim of the study is to analyze, in particular, the effect of the park institution on the social and economic conditions of the mountain populations. Moreover the new functional roles that the mountain centres might have in a context of national park have been studied.