Angelo Cusano

Geotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism devoted to the knowledge and understanding of landscape forms and geological processes; flora and fauna and cultural, historical and human heritage. The great geological and morphological variability of Avellino Province, also called Irpinia, in southern Italy makes this province of particular interest for geotourists. Irpinia has a unique set of geosites, sites of cultural interest, archaeological sites and natural parks. Additionally, since ancient times, it has been a transit route between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas and, as in all countries of the Mediterranean area, it was dominated by different races, peoples and cultures that contributed to developing its cultural identity and heritage, including its food and wine. Indeed, some Irpinian products were already known and commercialised in Roman times, including wine and olive oil. On this basis, we propose a map showing the characteristics of Avellino Province, including sites of geological, historical-archaeological and cultural value. The map will contribute to a better understanding of this province from a geotourism perspective and might guide tourists through knowledge of Irpinia.

In river basins, the deep interrelationships between land-use changes, soil erosion and rivers and shoreline dynamics are clearer than at a national or regional scale. Southern Italy is an ecologically fragile, desertification-prone territory where land-use changes in the last decades were significant. Notwithstanding this, studies dealing with multidecadal land-use changes in large-sized river basins of Southern Italy and their implications on soil erosion are missing. In this study, we assessed the land-use changes that occurred between 1960 and 2012 in the 3245 km²-wide Sele River basin. We carried out GIS-aided comparisons and analysis of two land-use maps and interpreted the results in terms of soil erosion intensity based on a detailed review of the scientific literature. The results confirmed the trend of the inner areas of Italy and, in particular, of the Campania region moving towards more pristine conditions, with an increase in forest cover, mainly at the expense of grasslands. Agricultural areas remained substantially unchanged, while the area of urban settlements increased. The diffuse afforestation of slopes suggested an overall decrease in soil erosion intensity, which was fully coherent with the geomorphological evolution of both the Sele River and local shoreline reported in literature.