Valli del Verbano – conservation, resilience and management of forest habitats
2023–2026 · Comunità Montana Valli del Verbano · A first research line assessed the conservation status of four Natura 2000 forest habitats – 9110, 9130, 9180* and 91H0* – across 684.99 ha using 80 sampling plots. Agreement between existing habitat maps and field observations reached an overall accuracy of 93.75%. Habitat 9130 was classified as unfavourable-inadequate, while 9110, 9180* and 91H0* were classified as unfavourable-bad. · A second activity investigated the effects of the October 2020 windthrow and ungulate pressure on forest regeneration. Wind-damaged areas were reconstructed using Sentinel-2 imagery and Random Forest classification based on 19 windthrow sites and 13 control areas. Field monitoring covered 26 plots distributed across Monte Nudo, Scereda and Sasso del Ferro. · Related publication: Bui T.U., Vacchiano G. (2026). Assessing forest resilience after windthrow: linking deadwood, regeneration, and landscape-scale susceptibility – A case study in a Pre-Alpine forest in Italy. iForest 19: 102–113.
The collaboration between Forest Lab and Comunità Montana Valli del Verbano integrates several applied-research activities addressing forest conservation and resilience, with particular focus on the Val Veddasca, Monte Sangiano and Monti della Valcuvia Special Areas of Conservation. The work combines Natura 2000 monitoring, post-disturbance regeneration, ungulate pressure, structural biodiversity, climate adaptation and wildfire risk. The BoscoBIO project extends monitoring to 150 sampling plots and integrates wildfire probability and fuel characteristics, climate-driven changes in forest composition, and biodiversity associated with deadwood and tree-related microhabitats.
Wildfire simulations were developed with FlamMap under multiple fuel-moisture combinations. The results provide a scientific basis for Natura 2000 management and for the revision of the Comunità Montana Forest Management Plan, integrating biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, post-disturbance management and wildfire prevention.
Related research lines: Biodiversity, conservation and old-growth forests · Forest resilience, extreme events and disturbances
Reports and outputs: Conservation status of Natura 2000 forest habitats · Ungulate pressure, windthrow and forest regeneration · BoscoBIO – forest resilience, wildfire, climate and biodiversity