The couple rapid urbanization and policy failure in controlling urban expansion was sometimes associated to soil and land degradation phenomena in both developing and developed countries. This work points to investigate the link between exurban development and soil/land degradation in the region of Athens (Greece) as a typical semiarid Mediterranean area experiencing a shift from a land-saving compact urban form to a dispersed, low-density urban expansion. The examined area is among the most populated areas in the Mediterranean basin showing an enormous population growth during the last 60 years. While low-density, dispersed urban settlements mainly developed over the decade (2000–2010) in the investigated area occupied mostly land classified at poor soil quality, the overall assessment of vegetation, climate and soil quality layers renders a complex picture in which exurban development consumed high-quality land that were classified as non-vulnerable to land degradation. On the contrary, compact urban settlements prevail in land with intermediate (or even high) soil quality but with inadequate climatic and vegetation conditions, which are classified as highly vulnerable to land degradation. Urban planning should integrate multi-dimensional indicators of soil, climate and vegetation quality to evaluate the environmental impact of exurban development.

Satellite remote sensing is a highly valuable data source useful in the monitoring of surface water dynamics and an essential tool in flood risk management although several factors can interfere with the detection of water features. This study explores an approach that integrates satellite optical images and DEM-based hydrogeomorphic features to enhance real‐time identification of river flooding. Spectral indices, namely MNDWI and the combination of NDWI/NDTI, were taken from Sentinel-2 images and used to detect flooded areas, while DEMs were used to identify areas more exposed to river flooding using the Geomorphic Flood Index. The integration/overlapping of these layers allowed us to refine the final map with a significant detection improvement compared to those based exclusively on the segmentation of a spectral index. The proposed integrated approach was tested in five areas of the Piave river (Northern Italy) where a flooding event caused by the Vaia storm took place in October 2018. Results have been evaluated against reference maps produced manually in five selected areas, demonstrating good capabilities of the proposed procedure (mean accuracy 0.90), significantly reducing false alarms (Matthews Correlation Coefficient improvements among 0.02–0.43 in 4 out of 5 areas). The key advantages of such a procedure are the rapid application and the free and easy availability of the data that, in turn, allow for the investigation of large areas in the aftermath of an event.

The abandonment of farmland in Europe is a significant issue due to its environmental, socio-economic, and landscape consequences. This tendency mainly impacts marginal and inner areas, located far from large urban districts, because of biophysical and/or socio-economic factors. Although European and national regulations try to turn the fragility of these territories into an opportunity for sustainable development, many of these areas, especially in southern Europe, continue to suffer socio-economic disparities. For this reason, it is necessary to consider regional and district-wide initiatives that can economically revitalize marginal areas while safeguarding their natural capital. Alternative cropping systems, capable of optimizing the quality of some food crops, can play an essential role in the economic development of populations living in marginal areas. These areas, represented by inland zones often abandoned due to the difficulty of applying mechanized agriculture, can represent an opportunity to rediscover sustainable and profitable practices. Among the high-value crops, saffron (Crocus sativus L.), “red gold” and “king of spices”, stands out for its potential. Indeed, thanks to the use of tuff tubs, a more eco-sustainable choice compared to the plastic pots already mentioned in the literature, it is possible to improve the quality of this spice. Furthermore, Crocus sativus L. not only lends itself to multiple uses but also represents a valid opportunity to supplement agricultural income. This is made possible by its high profitability and beneficial properties for human health, offering a way to diversify agricultural production with positive economic and social impacts. It is known that the saffron market in Italy suffers from competition from developing countries (Iran, Morocco, India) capable of producing saffron at lower costs than European countries, thanks to the lower cost of labor. Therefore, this study seeks to identify marginal areas that can be recovered and valorized through an eco-sustainable cultivation system with the potential to enhance the quality of this spice, making it unique and resilient to competition. Specifically, this paper is organized on a dual scale of investigation: (a) at the local level to demonstrate the economic-ecological feasibility of saffron cultivation through the adoption of an alternative farming technique on an experimental site located in Tricarico (Basilicata—Southern Italy, 40°37′ N, 16°09′ E; 472 m. a.s.l.) that, although fertile, is not suitable for mechanized cropping systems; (b) at the regional level through a spatially explicit land suitability analysis to indicate the possible location where to export saffron cultivation. The final map, obtained by combining geo-environmental variables, can be considered a precious tool to support policymakers and farmers to foster a broad agricultural strategy founded on new crop management systems. The adoption of this alternative agroecological system could optimize the use of land resources in the perspective of increasing crop productivity and profitability in marginal agricultural areas.

Stone walls are vital components of Mediterranean rural landscapes, but they are increasingly threatened by land abandonment and the loss of traditional maintenance practices. This study presents an integrated approach for detecting and mapping stone walls within the Appennino Lucano Val d’Agri Lagonegrese National Park (southern Italy), recognized as an area of outstanding importance for the conservation of biodiversity and cultural landscapes. The adopted methodology relies on a procedure that combines field surveys with a dual remote sensing framework utilizing very-high-resolution SkySat imagery and multi-date Copernicus Sentinel-2 data. SkySat imagery was used for the semi-automated detection of stone wall-related features based on morpho-textural characteristics, complemented by photointerpretation through Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Street View, whereas Sentinel-2 data were used to screen vegetation conditions in the areas surrounding the inventoried stone walls and terraces. As an additive investigation, the historical tratturi (ancient transhumance routes) network was used as a historically informed spatial framework to identify priority corridors for visual inspection. The integrated approach resulted in an inventory of 374 georeferenced stone-wall occurrences distributed across different landscape contexts. Sentinel-2 analysis showed that approximately 16% of the persistent within-season vegetation anomalies detected across the Park spatially co-occurred within landscape-scale 1-km buffers surrounding the inventoried stone walls and terraces. The resulting georeferenced database integrates spatial and ecological data within a GIS environment across 29 municipalities. Overall, the proposed workflow provides an operational framework for rural-heritage documentation, landscape-scale screening, and the prioritization of monitoring and conservation activities in Mediterranean environments.

Assuming landscape transformations as a process fueling the local level of vulnerability to wildfires, this work investigates the spatial distribution of selected land-use classes for two years (1975 and 2018) in a metropolitan region of the Mediterranean basin (Athens, central Greece). Built-up settlements and cropland expanded moderately over time, facing a slight decline in forests and semi-natural areas. These changes resulted in the inherent growth in local vulnerability to wildfires estimated using a composite indicator, namely the Fire Risk (FR) index developed in the framework of the MEDALUS international research project financed by the European Commission. Crop mosaics and discontinuous settlements were the classes contributing the most to FR growth. The empirical findings of our work suggest how the conversion of fringe landscapes toward simplified (and, likely, low-quality) cropland and pasture land, as well as the inherent fragmentation of natural/semi-natural landscape patches, is detrimental to environmental quality, increasing the potential exposure to peri-urban fires.