LANDSCAPE ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO HILLY BASIN RESTORATION IN SICILY - THE MAGAZZOLO RIVER NEAR BIVONA

As can easily be verified, ordinary perturbations (i.e. storms) frequently result in local disasters in Sicily. Common diagnosis underlines the precarious state of the hydrogeology of that territory, but this is not the ultimate cause of instability. These problems are further complicated by the need to build reservoirs, due to the long summer aridity (from May to November). This has implications for river control, mainly done with concrete works. On the contrary, it is important to demonstrate that the ultimate causes of this situation result from the ecological degradation of the landscape, and to try to analyze the types of degradations occurring. The importance of this analysis concerns the necessity to create and follow a landscape ecological methodology in order to restore the most precarious basin areas, consequently, also preventing the above-mentioned disasters. The case study of the hilly basin of Magazzolo River, in the municipalities of Bivona and Santo Stefano Quisquina (Agrigento Province), allows the possibility of proposing an unusual approach to the Province Authorities, in order to prevent the local reservoir filling up with silt and clay. The control of the river must be done principally by the control of the ecology of the landscape.