«Agriculture as a tool for resilience for these territories»
«Let’s call the mountain by its name. Let’s not sugarcoat the concept with other definitions, such as “internal areas”». If it is true that names are the consequence of things, as an ancient medieval saying went, the message from Professor Anna Giorgi is fundamental. The scientific director of the “White Paper on the mountain” explained today at Agrimont (on stage at Longarone Fiere Dolomiti) the volume edited and desired by Unimont – University of Milan, in collaboration with the Department for Regional Affairs and Autonomies of the Presidency of the Council.
The “White Paper” starts from a fact: Italy is largely on a mountainous surface. And it analyses the high lands for what they are and for the resources they express (water, ecological environment, forests). “Mountains are rich areas – 46% of Italian mountain municipalities produce PDO and PGI -, but weakened by government choices, given that the centers of power are in the plains and in large cities” summarized Professor Giorgi. “In fact, the mountains are experiencing widespread depopulation today. Mountain municipalities have lost 5% of their population in the last 10 years, while non-mountain municipalities have stopped at -1.3%; they have an old age index of 215.6, while non-mountain municipalities have stopped at 184. There is only one example that goes against the trend: Trentino-Alto Adige, which has instead seen its population increase”.
The secret? Simple: “Tailor-made tools for mountain governance. Today, regional or even hyper-local policies are needed that allow the mountains to express themselves. It is not a question of resources, because the high lands do not need welfare”.
Agriculture can lend a hand. As long as there is aggregation (because small is not always functional), diversification, technology, innovation, and training.
«To keep agriculture in the mountains and make it competitive, we need to pay that extra fee that is needed – concluded Professor Giorgi -. Support should be given not on the basis of surface area, but on what the mountains need, where agriculture is different from the plains». Once again, therefore, tailored measures are needed.
Longarone, March 15, 2025
