The Biocultural Heritage of Sicilian Olive Trees

The old olive cultural landscapes of Sicily are important historical archives.

With climate change and increasing abandonment of the Sicilian countryside, the old olive cultural landscapes are threatened. A historical understanding of these landscapes facilitates strategies and solutions for their sustainable management.

The aims of the 4-year project are to 1) map the spatial and temporal evolvement of olive cropping systems in Sicily, 2) analyse the dynamics of change and continuity in the olive cropping systems and to 3) inform the sustainable management of the olive cropping systems today.

Drawing on the concept of Biocultural Heritage, we use historical maps and satellite image analyses to build a geographical database. We investigate the composition of olive intercropping systems using stable carbon isotopes and phytoliths. Together with local farmers, we document local practices and knowledges of olive management.

The development of land use classification technique capable of connecting spatial dynamics with historical dynamics is innovative, as also the methods for investigating the composition, age and resilience of olive groves.

The collaboration with local stakeholders and involved methodologies also constitute a new framework for collaborative research and sustainable management of old olive trees and associated cultural landscapes.