Reforestation and land use change in a drainage basin of southern Italy

In this study, the land use change in a large basin of Calabria region (southern Italy) subjected to extensive reforestation at the end of the ’ 50 has been carefully reconstructed and compared with the current situation. The runoff capacity of the basin was estimated using data available for the temporal periods before and after the reforestation interventions. The results show that the surface of the basin interested by former reforestation activities did not affect the runoff, probably due to a trade-off between the effects of reforestation and a concurrent increase in urbanized and degraded areas. Indeed, the hydrological response is linked to structural complexity of reforested areas, currently at an early stage of development that can be further promoted through forest management activities.