Towards a sustainable agro-forest landscape? assessing land degradation (1950–2010) and soil quality in Castelporziano forest and peri-urban Rome, Italy

Vulnerability to land degradation was assessed for three reference years (1960, 1990 and 2010) together with land-use changes (1949–2008) in Rome’s metropolitan area (central Italy) to identify the relationship between urban expansion and the soil-landscape system. The study area includes traditional rural landscapes (the so called ‘Agro Romano’) around Rome and Castelporziano–Castelfusano woodland, one of the largest coastal forests in Italy. The Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) framework has been used for deriving a composite index of land vulnerability on a local scale. Together with a marked increase in land vulnerability, results suggest the existence of strong relationships between land degradation, soil quality and land-use changes. The highest growth rate in the level of land vulnerability was observed in built-up areas and cropland while coastal woodlands maintained a relatively high soil quality over time. Conservation of relict forest ecosystems and traditional crop mosaic, both considered as ‘buffer zones’ contrasting land degradation, appears a key issue when developing multi-target strategies for sustainable land management in large peri-urban regions.