Parametric Analysis of the Changes a Landscape Previously Used for Transhumance in a Nature Reserve in Sicily

Cavagrande del Cassibile is an important nature reserve in South East Sicily (Italy). It was establi-shed to conserve and restore the natural Mediterranean vegetation in the area, as well as to pro-tect and increase the local fauna. Inside the reserve there are farms which only abandoned trans-humance in the 1990s. Our research investigates whether the conversion of the farms from trans-humance to fixed site stock-breeding has changed the particular landscape under investigation. The study was carried out on two scales: at territory level, in order to analyse the present poten-tial advantages that the reserve offers to the area; and at farm level, in order to analyse the trans-formation of the landscape and to highlight the importance of the farms in the modern multi-functional rural context. The results at territory level show that the Cavagrande del Cassibile re-serve has great potential for environmental agro-tourism. The results of the farm level analysis were obtained by elaborating certain indices (changes in the landscape, continuation of farming, farm size). These allowed the changes in the countryside to be described in quantitative terms. In general, it emerges that there have been structural changes since the days of transhumance and that this has resulted in a landscape where the effects of human activities are more visible. Lastl