Traditional agricultural systems are receiving increasing attention at the international level due to their multifunctional role. The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) aims to identify agricultural systems of global importance, preserve landscape, agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge and apply the principles of dynamic conservation to promote sustainable development. Biodiversity associated to traditional agricultural practices is particularly important, especially in difficult environments, like traditional oases, for ensuring food and nutrition to local communities. We documented landscape and biological diversity associated with traditional agricultural practices in three traditional oases in Tunisia, through a landscape analysis based on land-use survey, and an assessment of cultivated species. Results show that the landscape structure is dominated by agricultural land uses and characterized by a high level of diversification. Agrobiodiversity is high: we identified 20 varieties of date palm, 21 species of fruit trees, 21 vegetable species and two fodder crops. Results highlighted that traditional oases, as other agroforestry and agricultural heritage systems, continue to play a crucial role in maintaining genetic resources and agrobiodiversity. Farmers who, all over the world, still cultivate applying traditional practices are the main actors that practice a real conservation of genetic resources and diversity by maintaining traditional cultivars and a diversified landscape structure. Our methodology, based on the combined assessment of land uses and agrobiodiversity, can be replicated in other agricultural heritage systems to evaluate and measure possible transformations and identify the best strategies for their preservation.

Indonesia is one of the countries with highest forest loss rates in the world. Protected areas (PAs) can have a key role in counteracting deforestation, especially if they are combined with the active involvement of local communities, rather than be only based on strict nature conservation. The study aims at assessing and measuring forest transformations in 1950–2017 through GIS-based spatial analyses, and to evaluate the role of PAs in preserving forests from deforestation. At national level forests dramatically decreased, passing from 78.3% of the total surface in 1950, to 63.8% in 1982 and to 46.8% in 2017. In the period 1950–2017, 35% of the national territory (over 66 million of hectares) has been affected by deforestation at an average rate of 985,200 ha/year; the areas where deforestation proceeded at higher rates are Sumatra (356,100 ha/year) and Kalimantan (303,360 ha/year). Deforestation occurred with higher intensity at lower altitudes and along the coast, due to the spread of modern plantations. The only exception is represented by Java and Bali as most of deforestation already occurred before 1950. PAs demonstrated to be effective in slowing down deforestation rates, but not in stopping it as deforestation is also affecting PAs. The study provided reliable spatial data on forest transformations in the last 67 years, highlighting differences related to geographical zone and altimetry, allowing the identification of the most vulnerable PAs. The amount of data produced at national and regional level could support further studies aimed at recognizing the best strategies to counteract deforestation, contributing to sustainable forests management and to forest preservation.

Cinque Terre, one of the most important Italian cultural landscapes, has not been spared from depopulation and agricultural abandonment processes, that involved many rural areas in Europe, as a consequence of socio-economic transformations that occurred after WWII. Depopulation of rural areas, especially in mountains or in terraced areas, caused significant environmental consequences, such as the decrease of biodiversity, the landscape homogenization, the increase of hydrogeological and forest fires risks. Cinque Terre National Park (5TNP) was established in 1999, and, differently from other Italian National Parks, not just for protecting natural habitats, but mainly to preserve, restore and valorize the historical terraced landscape. Moreover, the area is a UNESCO cultural landscape site and it is partly protected by three Sites of Community Importance. The research intended to investigate the transformations that have affected forested areas inside the 5TNP in the period 1936–2018, also highlighting the connections with hydrogeological and forest fires risks, as a support for the Park planning strategies and the conservation of the UNESCO site. Results highlighted that 37% of the current forests are the consequence of dry stones terraces abandonment that occurred in the twentieth century, with negative effects on the stability of steep slopes, hydrogeological risk, forest fires and on the conservation of a unique cultural landscape. This confirms the current national trend showing no deforestation occurring, but rather a continuous increase of forests on abandoned land. While 5TNP policies and actions are effectively aimed at pursuing an equilibrium between cultivated areas and forests, the Sites of Community Importance located inside the Park mainly focuses on the conservation of “natural habitats”, even if the current vegetation is also the result of secondary successions on former cultivated land. The research highlighted the need to valorize “cultural values” in forest planning as well as the importance of forest history for an accurate planning of forest resources in protected areas.

The landscape is considered a strategic asset by the Tuscan regional government, also for its economic role, meaning that a specific Landscape Plan has been developed, dividing the region into 20 Landscape Units and representing the main planning instrument at the regional level. Following the aims of the Landscape Plan and the guidelines of the European Landscape Convention, it is necessary to develop an adequate assessment of the landscape, evaluating the main typologies and their characteristics. The aim of this research is to carry out an assessment of the landscape diversity in Tuscany based on 20 study areas, analyzing land uses and landscape mosaic structures through the application of landscape metrics: number of land uses, mean patch size (MPS), Hill’s diversity number, edge density (ED), patch density (PD), land use diversity (LUD). The results highlight a correlation between the landscape typologies (forest, agricultural, mixed, periurban) and the complexity of the landscape structure, especially in relation to MPS and PD, while the combination of PD and LUD calculated on the basis of a hexagonal grid allows obtaining landscape complexity maps. Despite the phenomena of reforestation and urban sprawl of recent decades, Tuscany still preserves different landscape typologies characterized by a good level of complexity. This is particularly evident in mixed landscapes, while agricultural landscapes have a larger variability because of different historical land organization forms. The methodology applied in this study provided a large amount of data about land uses and the landscape mosaic structure and complexity and proved to be effective in assessing the landscape structure and in creating a database that can represent a baseline for future monitoring.

Argan tree is endemic of Moroccan arid regions, providing socioeconomic and cultural benefits since ancient times. This study identifies the emerging threats for the argan forest, and the opportunities related to the innovative uses of argan products and byproducts. Argan forest is facing pressure from overgrazing, demand for argan oil and nuts, and land degradation, despite its recognition as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and the inclusion in the FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme. Innovative use and recycling of the waste deriving from argan nuts processing, offer promising opportunities to support a local bio-economy. Argan press cake can be used to integrate livestock feeding, to extract sudan dyes or to produce bioplastics. Argan nut shells can be used to produce environment-friendly and low-cost purifying materials and biochar, or as a source of bioenergy. Argan pulp can be used for bioethanol production or to obtain natural insect repellent. Despite these promising opportunities, the socio-economic impact of innovative uses is still limited. Local population is not sufficiently involved in management and development strategies. To support the sustainable development of local communities, it is necessary to promote a participative approach as well as training and product differentiation among argan women cooperatives.

Peri-urban traditional agroforestry systems are considered a priority at an international level, as they serve as a link connecting cities and rural areas, providing local food and ecosystem services for people living in the cities. The mulberry-dykes and fishponds system (MFS), located near Huzhou city (Zhejiang province, China), also has a key role in protecting the city from floods, as it developed as a consequence of the ancient flood control system created to protect local cities and villages from recurring floods. This system is recognized for its sustainability and for the strong functional interlinkages between the different components (mulberry trees, fishes, silkworms) by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which included it into the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme in 2017. The research intends to measure landscape transformation in the last 12 years and to evaluate the effectiveness of the inclusion into the GIAHS Programme for land use changes mitigation. In addition, an accurate discussion focusing on the analysis of local planning has been done to evaluate its capacity in protecting and valorizing the site. Results demonstrated that MFS has undergone major land use changes in the last years due to urban sprawl, the spread of solar panels (+7% in 2018–2021), and abandonment of the traditional mulberry-based system (−75% in 2009–2021). Other changes are related to the overall number of traditional fishponds (−81% in 2009–2018 and −33% in 2018–2021) and to their shape and size. Local planning tools are too sectorial, not enough integrated one another, and they do not consider the MFS as a single system. The study demonstrated that the inclusion in the GIAHS Programme is not sufficient itself to stop negative trends in the absence of adequate planning tools, even if it can contribute to slowing them down, but it would be crucial to integrate the GIAHS action plan and vision into local planning tools.