Mountain Huts Revitalization in Italy: Innovation, Management, and Farming
A working group involving local authorities, industry associations, private owners, and breeders is proposed to develop a unified, short-term mountain hut project with the technical support of “Veneto Agricoltura”. This was the proposal emerging from the conference held in the civic hall of Caprino, which focused on the management of Bardo mountain huts.
Claudio Valorz, director of the Federazione allevatori di Trento, and Walter Ventura, a technician from the Istituto di San Michele all’Adige, delivered the introductory presentation on the management of Malga Luribello, located below the Rolle Pass, which has served as a demonstration grazing station since the 1980s.
Greater rationalization of work, the use of modern technologies and systems such as rotational grazing, milking in equipped halls, animals kept free 24 hours a day—which was not common in Trentino—dietary integration, and the creation of an agri-tourism sector with spaces for meetings are the innovations experimented with at Luribello in recent years.
“The results have been positive; pasture utilization has improved, and so has the quality of life and income for the mountain farmers,” explained Valorz.
Interventions and Perspectives
Technical input was provided by Ferdinando Svizzera, head of the veterinary sector of Ulss 22. “Data shows that in the more mountainous municipalities of the Baldo area, animal husbandry can sustain itself,” he explained, “but timely action and prudent interventions by local authorities are necessary.”
Anna Viceli from “Veneto Agricoltura” detailed the management of state-owned mountain huts in the Piana del Cansiglio, where to prevent the abandonment of the huts, they have been leased for thirty years at zero rent to breeders who submitted renovation and conservation plans.
For Eugenio Turri, a geographer, “the territory of the Baldo is characterized by proximity to heavily anthropized areas. One possible solution to enhance less productive mountain huts could be the development of hiking routes that take into account the area’s historical and cultural specificity.”
Giuseppe Pigozzi, president of the Associazione Nazionale Cavalli da Tiro, stated that the survival of these mountain huts depends on their multifunctionality. “Introducing different animal species, such as cattle and horses—each grazing on different types of grass—can improve pasture management and control infestations,” he explained.
According to Guerrino Coltri, mayor of Ferrara di Monte Baldo, funding is essential. “Without investments, serious projects cannot be undertaken, and the mountain hut risks becoming a terminally ill entity.”
Vittorio Mascagno, provincial manager of the Corpo Forestale dello Stato, offered a different opinion. “What matters most is rational organization, not investments. Malga Luribello has been transformed into a modern enterprise through work reorganization.”
“In Trentino, there is greater publicity of activities complementary to farming,” said Piero Bresaola, a municipal councilor of Caprino. “However, it is crucial to ensure long-term economic coverage to continue practicing mountain grazing.”
“A casual roundtable was born from a conference, but the results were good,” declared Adriano Bosco at the end, director of the Associazione Provinciale Allevatori di Verona, which organized the meeting together with the Comunità Montana del Baldo. “For the first time, concrete proposals have been put forward, and above all, it’s clear that discussing mountain huts and mountains cannot ignore breeders.”
Antonella Traina