ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Different Natures: Conflict and Negotiation in Preservation in an Alpine Park

• In Event: Producing Landscape

English Abstract

When natural reserves and established communities coexist, finding agreement on land and resource use presents a complex task. European parks have struggled to adapt the "American model" without perceivable human impact or edifice. They must accommodate the needs of communities living on the same territory, along with the often conflicting ones of scientific and touristic organizations. The Adamello-Brenta Natural Park provides an illustrative example of this conflict. By analyzing changing perceptions of nature in the Trentino Alps, we can examine how opposing priorities among local communities, ecologists, and touristic interests impact the conception of a desirable landscape.

As contrasting examples, I will discuss the preservation of alpine meadows and large predators in the Adamello-Brenta. In the first case, farmers' need for grazing ground, touristic valuing of visual access to Alpine scenery, and ecological interest in preserving shade-intolerant plants lead to a shared desire for controlling forest cover. In the second case, environmental organizations wish to preserve large predators and tourists like knowing of their presence from a distance, but local sentiment views these animals as dangerous to livestock and human life. The death of the jogger Andrea Papi in 2023, the first fatal accident since the reintroduction of the bear, led to calls for the reduction or elimination of bears, as well as counterprotests against the same. The Adamello-Brenta region thus provides a window into the struggles of adapting "wild" parks outside of their original context, and on how scientific, commercial, and local bodies may collaborate within this multi-faceted issue.

Author

• Giovanni Bisi