The Planning of Agricultural Space, the Use of Multivariate Geostatistics and the Schioppettino di Prepotto Native Vine Variety: Substituting Unsuitable Forestlands with Fruitful Vineyards in a Municipality of Friuli, Italy

Abstract

Italian agri-environmental landscapes are often neglected - when not overlooked or exploited - by urban planning initiatives and their consequences. Often, precious agricultural land is replaced with poor quality real estate. However, with the onset of Expo Milano 2015: “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life,” the goal should be to protect landscapes such as these that are rich in exceptional human, alimentary and ecological resources. The following study is thus devoted to the preservation and revival of viniculture in the municipality of Prepotto (a municipality in Northeastern Italy, bordering Slovenia). These two goals can be achieved through the establishment of an urban analytical protocol for the analysis of the rural system. This protocol will enable the identification of new areas for vinicultural development that strengthen the already elevated quality of the native wine of Schioppettino. The approach presented in this paper integrates motives for the preservation of agricultural land with the economic needs of these border territories. This study offers both public officials and the producers of the unique Schioppettino wines the technical reasons to increase production, elevate vinicultural quality and guarantee environmental sustainability. The territory in question is one of tremendous beauty, exceptional landscape variety and peculiar biodiversity. Therefore, the governance of agricultural space must permeate throughout the urban plan - from the conservation of land to its environmental assets and agricultural multifunctionality. In this case, a multidisciplinary approach and a solid information base to support decision- making are indispensable. The application of Geographical Information Systems and the recourse of multivariate geostatistics have allowed the extraction of available information from regional archives. This information has been used to estimate the necessary indicators and interpret the particular complexity of these agrarian landscapes. A new role can thus be attributed to the field of urban planning: the protection of a non-renewable resource, namely land, with simultaneous attention to themes of landscape, tourism and agricultural productive quality - the only true alternative to the current industrialization crisis of these lands on the North/East border of the country.