ABSTRACT
In Chapter 9, ‘Fragile balance: the case of pasture and forest management in Olivone (Canton Ticino)’, Mark Bertogliati outlines the current properties of the Patriziato Generale of Olivone, Campo, Largario (PG-OCL), which cover some 8,500 hectares and, after Airolo, comprise the biggest corporation of the Canton of Ticino in territorial terms. During the Middle Ages this alpine community passed through a crucial stage, characterised by expanding control over forest, pastures and roads, intertwined with Italian urban development. Collective resource management and internal organisation evolved in a structured and dynamic system consisting of different institutional levels (village corporations, degagne, vicinanza). This “multi-layered community” was the result of different local needs, negotiations with other communities and “empowering interactions” with state authorities. From the second half of the nineteenth century, institutional, demographic, economic and socio-ecological changes on a broader scale required new approaches and complex arrangements of traditional uses of forests and mountain pastoralism. The subsequent long process of transformation on the path to modernity highlights the adaptability of this community, but also its fragile balance in the management of resources and internal decision-making processes.
