Rischio desertificazione nei comprensori comunali dell’Area Grecanica (Calabria)

Threatening of desertification in the municipal districts of the Area Grecanica (Calabria). The phenomenon of desertification is threatening large areas of southern Italy, especially Basilicata, Calabria, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily. Recently, along with the characterization of Desertification Risk upon Regional scale (1:250.000 - 1:100.000), are being associated studies based on single town scale, as the present one, carried out on the 12 towns in the Areas Grecanica, aimed to project the tendency of the risk in two different periods of time. In the first period studied the areas considered unthreatened were 10.5% of the Area Grecanica and, mostly, in the towns of the Roccaforte del Greco and Roghudi. Only a very small part was considered potential, around 5.6%. A good part of the territory, however, showed a moderate sensitivity equal to 22.1%. Specifically: Fragile1 (1.6%), Fragile2 (11.0%) and Fragile3 (9.5%). Areas with high sensitivity were approximately 59.6%. Specifically: Critical1 (16.0%), Critical2 (19.2%) and Critical3 (24.4%). In the second period studied unthreatened areas were 1.4% of the whole Area Grecanica mainly concentrated in the towns of Roccaforte del Greco and Roghudi. A small proportion, 3.8%, falls within the class potential. A good part of the territory presents a moderate sensitivity equal to 32.4%. Specifically: Fragile1 (8.5%), Fragile2 (11.1%) and Fragile3 (12.7%). Areas with high sensitivity are approximately 59.8%. Specifically: Critical1 (4.7%), Critical2 (2.4%) and Critical3 (32.7%). Comparing the two periods analyzed, the most worrying results, excluding the areas that are unthreatened in the second period, reduced by a factor of 9.1 compared to the first one, are those referring to classes Critical2 and 3 which suffered between the two periods, an increase of 3.2% (Critical2) and 8.3% (Critical3).