Mapping Civic Uses in Abruzzo Region: Opportunities for Sustainable Resource Management

Civic Uses (UC) are perpetual rights vested in members of a community over property belonging to the state domain. They are therefore collective rights attributable to the individual as a member of a collectivity and not as an individual. These rights cover various activities such as grazing, mountain pasture, cutting wood but also the possibility of gathering fronds or grass. The use of these lands was widespread in the past, to this day it is a residual action and kept within much stricter limits and regulations than in the past. At the basis of the regulation of these funds is Law 1766 of 1927, which succeeded in stopping the various movements aimed at the abolition of Civic Uses that began after the Unification of Italy, to date after almost a century we still have not managed to produce a Consolidated Text that can shed light on the possibilities of use of these areas and provide a standard to be applied in all regions in order to have a single key. The aim of this paper is therefore to offer a general overview of the management of these assets in the different Italian regions. The case study considered concerns the Abruzzo region, the structure of the database and the information it contains is reported, emphasizing the importance of mapping all the lands subject to Civic Use, so that we can have a supporting database with the aim of improving the management, surveillance, and survival of these areas.