The aim of this paper is to take stock of the situation regarding the main types of damage to forests and their respective economic consequences, with reference to a case study in the Italian Alps (Trentino province). Each kind of damage (wind and snow, defoliation, fire and tillage) has been...

This paper focuses on the economic aspects of the protective role of forests against natural hazards, developing an estimation methodology applicable on a local scale. We identified the main variables that influence on a local level those forest attributes involved directly or indirectly in...

Protection from natural hazards is the most important function of mountain forests from an ecological, economic and social point of view. This assertion has been widely debated in recent years by a number of authors. In this paper we focus on the economic aspects of the protective function of...

Social capital is defined as the sum of interactions between both individuals and groups, which permit the development of rules, shared values, as well as cooperative and reciprocal links. This concept, developed by social science, can be applied as a support structure in decision making for...

Environmental assessment needs of Decision Support Systems (DSSs) able to consider several aspects in a unique analysis framework. The complexity of interaction among ecological, economic and political variables and a widespread lack of data availability lead to difficulty in bringing together...