Page 42 - Changing Living Spaces

Luca Mocarelli and Paolo Tedeschi

associated reduction in forested area. This reduced the future availabil-
ity of timber and caused landslides and flooding in some Alpine valleys.
In addition, the overuse of pastures gradually reduced the amount of for-
age available for cattle-breeding; this, of course, had a negative impact on
rents and local dairy production.
While it was possible to recover from the damage to the former com-
munal meadows in a short time, it took a long time to remedy the damage
to the communal forests. Every mistake in cutting the trees resulted in a
significant reduction of the forested areas. If the different times required
for the regrowth of the trees were not respected, a progressive deforest-
ation started. Thus, in the Alpine valleys, even if the families and the ar-
tisans demanded an increasing production of firewood for heating and
cooking and more charcoal for the forges, it was not possible to increase
the felling of hardwood and mixed coppice (bosco ceduo forte e misto). The
villagers knew that the initial advantage would lead to less raw material
in the future. This explains why the right of legnatico, as well as the con-
tracts for the exploitation of communal forests, strongly regulated and
limited wood production. Only the needs of the government, for exam-
ple to increase the production of ships in the Venice Arsenale or of weap-
ons in the valleys, had the power to temporarily increase the exploitation
of the Alpine forests.6
New landowners, who sometimes did not live in the village or the val-
ley, ignored these rules and their goal of preserving the forest; they were
not obliged to respect them and cut in excess. And even when there were
laws regulating the use of the commons, some new landowners (or their
tenants) evaded the controls and misused the real estate; the amends
(when paid) did not compensate for the costs of restoration in the follow-
ing years.
The area of former common real estate decreased or changed its char-
acteristics. In many cases, larger trees were replaced by coppice (in order
to have new wood in the short term) and new mulberry trees were plant-
ed (the cold temperatures in the valleys did not allow profitable silk-

6 About the strategies and problems concerning the management of Italian Al-
pine forests, a wide bibliography exists. See, among others, Bonan (2019), Oc-
chi (2017), Lazzarini (2009), Agnoletto (2005), Visconti (2002), Agnoletti (1998;
2002), and Sansa (1997). See also Agrawal (2007) and Gibson, McKean, and Os-
trom (2000). Concerning the supplies for the strategic needs of the Republic of
Venice, see: A. Lazzarini (2014; 2018; 2019) and Mocarelli and Ongaro (2017).
See also references in note 1.

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