Naturalness and environmental vulnerability in the Nature 2000 sites that cover the ecological corridors of the Calabria’s Ionian side. SIC Foce Neto case study

Abstract

The Calabria region boasts 179 Sites of Community Interest (SIC) and 6 Special Protection Areas (SPAs). The lack of studies on the state of conservation and environmental quality of these sites (naturalness, artificiality, sensitivity, vulnerability and risk) has led the authors to characterize the 10 SIC that insist on the ecological corridors of the Ionian Calabrian side. Through the Index of Landscape Conservation (ILC) and Environmentally Sensitive Areas Index (ESAi), an Environmental Analysis was conducted aimed at defining, identifying and assessing values and criticalities. Starting from theLand Use Map (CLC), the Map of Naturalness-Artificiality and the Map of Environmental Sensitivity of the aforementioned sites have been created, such as derived maps. This study is concluded with a methodological study on the appropriate methods that should be taken to characterize a SIC thanks to the analysis, made before, on SIC Neto, addressed with phytosociological method.