New development of Italian forest owner associations

Forest ownership fragmentation and lack of horizontal integration among forest owners represent some of the main factors that traditionally affect the competitiveness of the Italian forest sector. Since 1923 (Royal Decree No. 3267), the Italian regulatory framework has promoted, providing numerous and different legislative tools, the creation of forest owner associations for ensuring more active forest management. Despite numerous efforts implemented by the Italian government, there is a lack of national forest owner associations large enough to be considered representative of the whole sector. In the first part, the study aims to present and analyze the role of forest owner associations in the context of the last Italian legislative acts: Decree no. 34 of 2018, and the related Italian forest strategy published, in draft version, in February 2020. In the second part, four case studies of forest owner associations are described to identify and analyze the main implications and results of specific national and regional policies. Two of them, Lowland Forest Association (AFP) and Forest Association of Vicenza (AFV), are located in the Veneto Region, and their creation was financed through the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2000-2007 (measure 9.6). AFP, which manages more than 1500 ha of public and private forest close to the Venetian coast, and AFV, which aggregates owners and forest companies in the Venetian Pre-alps, are the only two active associations out of the ten financed by RDP in the Region. The other two associations analysed, Valle Infernotto land association and Forest Community of Monte Pisano, represent some of the first results of specific regional policies, recently implemented by Piedmont and Tuscany, respectively. Valle Infernotto Land Association was formed in 2018, in the context of Regional Law no.21 of 2016 that aimed to provide operative tools for forest owners to create associations in the Piedmont region. Whereas, the Forest Community of Monte Pisano, strongly promoted by Regional law no.11 of 2018, is based on a protocol among the main actors, including local municipalities and the Tuscany Region, for promoting active forest management. The study concludes that today, forest owner associations in Italy are characterized by very different structures and objectives, that has to be considered in the establishment of the next Italian legislative operative tools, such as the issue of a specific fund for supporting the creation of forest associations.