A Man and the Biosphere Reserve as a natural and socio-economic laboratory for the sustainable future of small rural communities

The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve Collemeluccio-Montedimezzo-Alto Molise was established in 1977 in Molise Region (Central Italy) to safeguard local natural and managed ecosystems in two separate areas administered by two different municipalities. An association of seven small municipalities with various local bodies, the ASSOMAB Alto Molise Consortium, was established in 2006 to expand and zone the Reserve in order to promote innovative and environmentally sustainable approaches to economic and social development, by setting in place a new model of sustainable and integrated management in the area. In the renewal step of 2014, UNESCO agreed the expansion of the old protected areas into a single, larger reserve, to be managed by the Consortium. Today it covers nine Natura 2000 sites, seven of which are included in the European Habitats Directive, and two in the Birds Directive. Local administrators and stakeholders see the Reserve as an opportunity to develop sustainable actions while protecting and enhancing the extraordinary environmental richness, including the remarkable biodiversity. In this paper, the authors discuss the current situation and the socio-economic opportunities in this rural landscape, which is affected by population ageing, outmigration and a diminishing economy, all of which are significant drivers of land-use changes, particularly land abandonment and forest expansion.