The Mediterranean climate is marked by arid climate conditions in summer; therefore, crop irrigation is crucial to sustain plant growth and productivity in this season. If groundwater is utilized for irrigation, an impressive water pumping system is needed to satisfy crop water requirements at catchment scale. Consequently, irrigation water quality gets worse, specifically considering groundwater salinization near the coastal areas due to seawater intrusion, as well as triggering soil salinization. With reference to an agricultural coastal area in the Mediterranean basin (southern Italy), close to the Adriatic Sea, an assessment of soil salinization risk due to processing tomato cultivation was carried out. A simulation model was first arranged, then validated, and finally applied to perform a water and salt balance along a representative soil profile on a daily basis. In this regard, long-term weather data and physical soil characteristics of the considered area (both taken from international databases) were utilized in applying the model, as well as considering three salinity levels of irrigation water. Based on the climatic analysis performed and the model outputs, the probability of soil salinity came out very high, such as to seriously threaten tomato yield. Autumn–winter rainfall frequently proved to be insufficient to leach excess salts away from the soil profile and reach sustainable conditions of tomato cultivation. Therefore, alternative cropping strategies were investigated.

Leaching of soluble elements from cultivated soils is a major concern to meet the target of agricultural sustainability in most areas. The effect of biochar application to a cultivated soil on water drainage and the consequent solute losses was assessed during a trial carried out over two consecutive growing seasons. Biochar was added to a loam-texture soil, at 0, 1, and 2% d.w. rates. A lysimeter-like set-up arranged in the experimental field-unit, allowed collecting the percolating water. Two multiple linear regressions (ANCOVA models) were applied to detect biochar effect on: (1) The seasonal amount of drained water; and (2) the concentration of solutes in the drained water. The statistical comparison among a set of slope coefficients as affected by treatments (growing season and biochar) was used as modelling approach. The lower biochar application rate (1%) significantly reduced both the amount of drained water and its concentration in solutes. Conversely, the higher biochar application rate (2%) showed no significant effects. Nitrate and chloride showed a significant interaction with biochar application rates. Higher biochar application increased nitrate leaching while reduced that of chloride. Biochar application within a rate no more than 1% resulted in a useful and quite effective technical operation.

Mediterranean climate is marked by arid climate conditions in summer, therefore, crop irrigation is crucial to sustain plant growth and productivity in this season. If groundwater is utilized for irrigation, an impressive water pumping is needed to satisfy crop water requirements at catchment scale. Consequently, irrigation water quality gets worse, specifically considering groundwater salinization near the coastal areas due to seawater intrusion, also triggering soil salinization. With reference to an agricultural coastal area in the Mediterranean basin (Southern Italy), close to the Adriatic sea, an assessment of soil salinization risk due to processing tomato cultivation was carried out. A simulation model was arranged to perform, on daily basis, a water and salt balance along the soil profile. Long-term weather data and soil physical parameters representative of the considered area were utilized in applying the model, also considering three salinity levels of irrigation water. Based on the climatic analysis performed and the model outputs, the probability of soil salinity came out very high, such as to seriously threaten tomato yield. Autumn-winter rainfall resulted frequently insufficient to leach excess salts away from the soil profile and reach sustainable conditions of tomato cultivation. Therefore, alternative cropping strategies were prospected.

A relatively new planning tool in Italy is the Local Forest Plan, which stands at a broader level in the land planning scale compared to the Forest Management Plan but at a finer scale considering a Regional or even National Forest Plan. This intermediate scale was considered the most appropriate for working out a planning process based on a multi-criteria assessment of forest functions. The proper functioning of forest ecosystems can provide services conceived as benefits people can obtain through ecological processes that sustain and satisfy essential needs of human life. Four particular forest functions providing services were identified: protective, productive, naturalistic and touristic, respectively. A set of functional criteria, as well as attributes within criteria, were recognized to perform an “Analytic Hierarchy Process” (AHP). A specific application of this methodological approach was selected as a case study. This multi-criteria decision-making process involved the participation of five selected experts in a preliminary phase, followed by the participation of thirty representative stakeholders who contributed to the forest planning process and the subsequent selection of actions to be taken. Data related to forest types and management, physical and morphological features of the forested terrain and infrastructure such as forest roads, touristic trails and hiking pathways, together with natural protected areas or wildlife preservation areas, were explicitly located in space by using a “geographical information service” (GIS) software. The combined application of AHP and GIS can be considered as a significant methodological innovation presented in the case study, together with the implementation of a participative process aimed at the management of forest resources and the creation of possible new professional and entrepreneurial forest activities for the benefit of the entire residential community.

The European Parliament has recently passed the “Nature Recovery” law to restore degraded ecosystems and prevent natural disasters as part of its “Biodiversity Strategy 2030” and “Green Deal”. In this respect, wetlands can provide a wide range of ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation, hydrological land protection, provision of products, cultural and recreational benefits, and many others. However, they are still threatened by the expansion of agricultural land, overexploitation of water resources, water pollution, climate change, etc. Wetland conservation, however, is essential and requires coordinated action by managers, policymakers, stakeholders, and scientists. A systemic planning and design process is required to address these complex challenges. This research aims to outline an integrated, comprehensive, and well-structured planning framework for wetland systems that can be applied to different wetland types, in line with institutional wetland policy, governance, and management. The methodological approach developed in this study aims to integrate a longer-term strategy plan with a shorter-term action plan by combining the Yeomans scale of permanence and the Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response model. This innovative approach was applied to a specific case study and may guide further wetland planning in the future. The Nominal Group Technique was used, a consensus method aimed at achieving a general agreement and convergence of opinion. An expert group of seven members with different technical backgrounds was engaged and expert consultation was found to be a simple and rapid technique for carrying out wetland planning. The expert judgements were sound, consistent, and did not overlap (i.e., were not redundant). “Pressures” and “Impacts” were identified by the experts and clustered according to corresponding “States” and “Drivers”. Expert scoring allowed the resulting “Responses” to be ranked in terms of their relevance and influence on the development of the wetland strategy and action plan, while a priority order for their implementation was assessed according to the Yeomans scale of permanence. Agriculture was the highest rated ‘Driver’; similarly, Biodiversity (habitats and species) was the ‘State’ with the highest score. Therefore, their combination (agriculture and biodiversity) should be considered as the strategic cornerstone of the whole planning framework. This means designing and implementing a system in which agriculture and nature (in our case a wetland) are allied ecological systems in mutual compensation, according to the way natural elements are embedded in the agricultural system. A collection of factsheets containing the full list of responses considered in the Wetlands Action Plan, with detailed operational actions, is provided in the Appendixes.

In the EU, bioenergy is by far the most significant renewable energy source and more than two thirds of biomass utilized for energy conversion consists of forestry and agricultural residues, such as fruit tree pruning. Although still underutilized, biomass from pruning is a relevant energy feedstock that does not generate additional demand for land, nor negative impact on the environment and biodiversity. On the other hand, previously shredded pruning left in the field may sustain agricultural processes and help provide beneficial ecological services. In the latter case, the most relevant result is the increase in soil organic carbon, an essential factor for improving soil quality and promoting climate regulation. As a result, a “dilemma” arises for farmers over two conflicting pruning management options: “pruning to energy” vs. “pruning to soil”, respectively. The present study, performed in the frame of the Horizon 2020 project “uP_running”, is offering a straightforward evaluation tool to assess weather biomass resulting from fruit tree pruning could be removed from the field and used as energy feedstock without compromising both soil quality and the provision of important ecosystem services.