Protected areas and landscape conservation in the Lombardy plain (northern Italy): an appraisal

Between the 1980s and 1990s, conservation policy in Lombardy (NW Italy) was enhanced with the establishment of the Protected Areas System, which encompassed a wide area of nature reserves and regional parks. The main aim of the Protected Areas System was to preserve cultural, natural and traditional human activity over large areas affected by very rapid development processes.Currently, the Protected Areas System covers about 26% of Lombardy, and human activity within the protected areas is managed and controlled by a consistent body of rules and laws, operating in an eco-sustainable framework. The actual effect of these rules and regulations on landscape and biodiversity conservation is, however, poorly understood.The aims of this study are: (1) to describe the development of the Protected Areas System and its features in southern Lombardy between 1980 and 1994; (2) to confirm that avian species richness is higher in the Protected Areas System than in the related buffer zones; (3) to describe the role of the regulations and laws in establishing the Protected Areas System.The study was carried out in four regional parks of southern Lombardy, and in the related buffer areas, considered as controls. Five variables (natural habitat surface, field size, grassland availability, urban areas, and avian species richness) were compared within and outside the protected areas.Results are summarized as follows: during the study period, the surface covered by natural habitats decreased significantly in control (63.6%) than in protected areas (33.2%), the average field area increased 34.2% in control areas and 15.3% in protected areas, urbanized areas increased 52.3% in control areas and 15.1% in protected areas, while no significant difference was observed in grassland availability. Avian species richness was significantly higher in protected than in control areas.Results showed that despite a general reduction of the environmental value in the wider environment from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the network of protected areas effectively protected some landscape features, and successfully contributed in restraining the expansion of urban areas. Moreover, it confirmed that avian species richness is higher in the Protected Areas System than in control areas.Data on restraining urban development was of the utmost importance, since the Lombardy Protected Areas System included wide areas of primary urban value. These data can be partially explained by the dominant role of the Park Development Plan on the Urban Development Plan, adopted by the local municipality, and proposes the application of the precautionary principle in the simplification process, which is currently affecting the rules and laws governing protected areas in Italy.