Environmentally protected areas and local development in the 2000-2006 regional policies

Nature is an important resource which can enhance Italy’s territorial competitiveness. Nature reserves cover about ten per cent of the territory and are even more concentrated in Southern Italy. In order to draw upon such an asset effectively, an overall strategy should be applied to the environmentally protected areas, which call for institutional reinforcement and closer integration with the surrounding areas. This article provides a territorial analysis of the projects financed within the CSF 2000-2006 - the general framework for regional development programmes in areas lagging behind in Italy in the past few years - in the attempt to understand if the strategy applied has produced the desired effects in environmentally protected areas.