Application of landscape ecology methodology in the project of Vulture Natural Regional Park

The Regional Natural Park of Vulture is the youngest among the protected areas in Basilicata, located at the border with Campania and Puglia, characterized by a unique blend of geomorphological, vegetational, and historical-cultural aspects. The proposal about a park project aims at establishing and implement ecologi-cal, landscape, and multilevel environmental connections, focusing on identify-ing and enhancing green infrastructures to overcome the issue about portions of territory’s fragmentation and its identity and statutory components. The project plan is based on the analysis and interpretation of various environmental and landscape components to understand the structuring elements and co-evolu-tionary processes of the territory, that have determined its current configuration. Environmental networks become the essential tool to define these multiscale and multidimensional connections to establish a combined system for the con-servation and enhancement of natural and cultural resources, promoting local development processes. The technical-operational methodology is based on the notion of Landscape Ecology, integrated with a territorialist approach and inter-pretation planning. This approach involves studying the interactions between natural and anthropic ecosystems and their influences on ecological processes. This methodology is a cultural choice in the scientific coordination of the Natural Regional Park Plan Agreement