Journal of Tourism & Hospitality
Open Access

Protected Areas, Mediterranean Diet and Sustainable Development the Case of Campania

Antonio Bertini^{* *}Correspondence: Antonio Bertini, Department of Tourism, Institute of Mediterranean Studies of the National Research Council, Naples, Italy, Email:

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Within the broader system of inland areas, the subject of protected areas comes into play. The system of parks and other protected areas conserves, along with biodiversity, an extraordinary cultural heritage made up of historical architectural artistic emergencies, but also intangible assets. It is therefore essential, perhaps strategic, that protected areas pursue policies capable of balancing interventions for the conservation and enhancement of the cultural assets entrusted to them, with those implemented to protect biodiversity, a common good par excellence. This is a balance that can also allow for an improvement in relations with the settled populations, which must be involved as much as possible in this taking charge of their territory, which is then, at a local level, the application of the general principle whereby we must take charge, personally and collectively, of the future of the planet and its delicate balance. The total number of residents in all Italian parks is 4,407,741. 33% of Italian municipalities have part of their territory covered by a park; the percentage rises to 68% if small municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants are also considered. The Italian population living in territories affected by protected natural areas amounts to 23.7%. Law 394/91, one of the best in Europe, defined an integrated system of national protected areas and introduced the concepts of enhancing and experimenting with productive activities compatible with the conservation of the natural heritage and biodiversity. The law's call was to combine the conservation of nature, the landscape, history, anthropology and local culture with economic opportunities and the possibility of sustainable development: To adopt a management model that was able to find the right compromise between the tourist and economical use of a protected area and the dutiful conservation of nature, the landscape and its usability. The policy of promotion and enhancement, including tourism, of national protected areas before the pandemic was well advanced, while that of regional protected areas proceeded very slowly, especially in Southern Italy. The discourse that was interrupted must therefore be resumed using the other tools that have also been put in place in a global context and that consist of the 'Mediterranean diet' and the 'dry stone wall technique', both recently included by UNESCO in the world list of the intangible heritage of humanity. The recovery of the Mediterranean way of life represents a fundamental element of aggregation and social cohesion for communities; it determines the development of culture and represents a sustainable lifestyle. Its dissemination can help to revive the fortunes of many of the centers scattered across the territory that has been emptied of the contents and roles for which they were created. Another non-negligible advantage inherent in the Mediterranean diet is the reality of small towns where there is no abundance, no redundancy of products, and no waste of what is cultivated because Mediterranean landscapes are built on the limit, on scarcity, and therefore on measure.

The Mediterranean diet, if pursued, could constitute a real revolution in the Mediterranean context, as dietary behavior has to do with landscapes insofar as it affects the use of resources, and the choice of crops and animals to be reared. By safeguarding food, cultivation and processing techniques, we protect the biodiversity of species, but also the variety of cultures and, therefore, landscapes. By promoting organic farming and good agronomic practices that protect resources qualitatively and quantitatively, land quality, organic soil fertility and carbon sequestration are increased and maintained. Incentivizing the role of agriculture through the enhancement of ecological quality agricultural supply chains and projects related to multifunctionality and sustainable production, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, can help achieve one of the priority objectives to retain the population (landscape restoration). One of the techniques for improving agricultural production in the inaccessible territories throughout the Italian Apennines is 'the art of dry stone walls', the result of ancient knowledge, a method of intervention in the territory with a low environmental impact that, in part, has been abandoned, especially in the Mediterranean. It is an ancient practice, one of the oldest known, that should be handed down and included in a broader context that is that of naturalistic engineering, which is a way of intervening on the land that respects the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of the landscape and is, therefore, particularly sustainable. The 'Mediterranean diet', dry-stone walling techniques, interventions using naturalistic engineering techniques, and the conservation and enhancement of protected areas, are all parts of the same system, they are essential elements to help pursue the goal of our civilization which is that of sustainability, of the wise use of resources while respecting the environment and the common good. It is easier to pursue 'sustainable tourism' in a 'sustainable environment'.