Masterplan forestale Appennino Reggiano

The forest is today the main land cover of our territory, yet for too long it has remained on the margins of local development policies. The Forest Masterplan of the Appennini Reggiani was created to bring it back to the centre, recognising it as a strategic resource for the economy, the environment, and the community.

The project is part of the national Green Communities strategy, supported by the PNRR, and introduces a new perspective: forest management is not only about protecting the landscape, but also an opportunity for sustainable growth, innovation, and social cohesion.

In the Appennini Reggiani, forest cover is extensive and deeply rooted in history, yet fragmented and mostly private ownership makes coordinated management difficult. The Masterplan addresses this issue directly, promoting shared and collective models to enhance large forested areas.

It represents the first real step to bring the forest into the agenda of local institutions, with an approach that links economy, landscape, and community: from timber for furniture and construction to energy and environmental enhancement. A shift in perspective that sees the forest not as a limit, but as a driver of the future for mountain areas.

In the central belt of the Reggio mountains and their hilly margins, forests tell a story of transformation: abandoned chestnut groves, marginal farmland left to spontaneous vegetation, areas which without management have lost economic and ecological value, often becoming sources of degradation and environmental risk.

Here the challenge is more complex: new forms of shared and certified management are needed, capable of restoring unity to a fragmented landscape and bringing the forests back into the heart of local life. Landowners’ associations, together with innovative tools such as “Forest Contracts”, pave the way for collective and sustainable models of territorial governance.

The Masterplan draws inspiration from experiences already underway, such as the Consorzio Forestale del Medio Appennino Reggiano and the chestnut groves of Marola around the historic Benedictine abbey: an example of how communities, institutions, and natural heritage can work together.

The goal is to extend these practices across the entire area, through a research-action pathway that fosters new forms of association and guides communities towards planned and certified forest management. The Masterplan thus becomes a strategic compass to interpret the landscape, its origins, its ties with agriculture and settlements, and to imagine tailored forest policies for a territory that still has much to be valued.