Dynamic and active conservation of traditional agricultural landscapes of inner areas with the GIAHS approach. For a comparison of experiences between the European and Latin-American contexts.

Since 2002, the GIAHS initiative has promoted the dynamic conservation of traditional agricultural systems by recognizing their global importance and the activation of bottom-up projects. Local communities represent both actors and recipients of the actions undertaken. Today there are 62 GIAHS in 22 countries, two of which are in Italy. The GIAHS – based on food security, agrobiodiversity, traditional local knowledge systems, cultures and systems of values and social organizations, landscape characteristics – does not represent only an international recognition. It wants to be an “engine” for the enhancement and sustainable development of traditional agricultural systems (both locally and nationally) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, also by fostering at the political level the awareness on the importance of protecting historical agricultural systems, agrobiodiversity, and local knowledge for the daily management of landscapes. Several countries, such as Chile and Peru, also started national policies to protect rural landscapes of inner areas based on the GIAHS approach. These policies aim to guarantee the food sovereignty of rural communities and combat the phenomena of abandonment of such areas, disruption of historical agricultural systems, and loss of landscape heritage. From these premises, the contribution intends to present the GIAHS approach, reflecting on how this recognition can be an opportunity to preserve and enhance traditional agricultural systems in inner areas. This paper will also show how the GIAHS approach could be declined differently depending on the geographical contexts, through a comparison between Europe (where it is more significant the attention on landscape and agri-food sectors) and Latin American (with an emphasis on agrobiodiversity and local knowledge). The aim is to identify good practices to apply in Italy, even within the National Strategy for Inner Areas, which indicates in the reactivation of traditional agricultural systems a backbone to reverse the abandonment of inner areas and revitalize rural landscapes.