Lista rossa degli ecosistemi d’Italia

Considering ecosystems as proper conservation target is the most effective strategy for preserving the full structural and functional efficiency of natural heritage. This approach is also deemed to be complementary to conservation efforts focused on threatened species, such as those arising from the species Red Lists that are compiled according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) or from the Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC) implementation. Moreover, reliable information on the status and trends of ecosystems at national level are important elements to measure progress to the European and National 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, aimed at halting loss of ecosystem extent and quality. The Red List of Ecosystems of Italy provides the methodological path that were used for the assessment of the risk of collapse of ecosystem in Italy and the results of this assessment. In keeping with the IUCN guidelines for the Red List of Ecosystems the risk assessment of collapse of ecosystems is based on the evaluation of criteria and definition of risk categories and its application is attuned to the Italian context and available knowledge. The risk assessment is applied to 85 ecosystem typologies comprising forest, scrub, grassland, psammophilous, chasmophytic, hygrophilous freshwater, halohygrophilous, standing or running freshwater and maritime wetland ecosystem types. The Red List Map of Ecosystems of Italy provides an overview of the risk of collapse of all these ecosystem types, each of which is also detailed by a descriptive and evaluation sheet, based on a consistent set of data and expertise from regional scientists involved in this study. In Italy 58 ecosystems are at risk (categories Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable), covering the 19.6% of the national area, which is almost half of the area covered by natural and semi-natural ecosystems in Italy. The area with the highest percentage of threatened types is the one referred to the Po Plain ecoregion in which ecosystems cover very small areas (8.4% of the land area) to which are associated additional pressure and threat factors that make all 16 of them collectively at risk. At the regional level, Critically Endangered forest ecosystems are mainly distributed in northern Italy (Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto regions), while Critically Endangered psammophilous ecosystems are distributed along the coastal strip of the peninsula in different regional contexts. Endangered ecosystems are mainly located in the Major Islands while Vulnerable ecosystems are distributed throughout the country with low percentages in several administrative regions, including Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, Calabria, Lombardy and Piedmont. The knowledge of the risk level of ecosystems can inform and support European and national nature and biodiversity policy in a variety of ways. It allows, for instance, to outline the actions needed to slow down and reverse the negative trend and to define priority recovery and restoration actions, as required by the European Biodiversity Strategy to 2030. In addition, all the outcome of this process can be used as the preparatory documents not only for a timely and effective implementation of the new National Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, but also fundamental tools for the implementation of national projects for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for a green and sustainable transition in our country.