Italy’s tourist-packed Amalfi Coast could be under threat from landslides as traditional farming techniques die out.
Over the centuries, thousands of lemon trees have been cultivated on the small terraces carved out of the steep mountainsides.
The bright yellow fruit was traditionally harvested by men dubbed “contadini volanti” (“flying farmers”) because of the sheer slopes over which they have to haul their loads.
The pickers work from 7am until late afternoon, sometimes completing as many as 30 runs up and down steep and uneven steps on the mountain slopes. They are paid €6 for each crate of some 50 kilos they deliver.
The area is too steep for roads to be built and even mules and donkeys struggle to get up and down the terraces.
Today cheaper lemons from abroad have forced down prices, rendering the harvest increasingly uneconomic. Many Amalfi farmers have abandoned their terraces which had been under cultivation for generations.
Without attention, some of the dry stone walls have begun to crumble and collapse leading to heightened risk of erosion and landslides.
This could spell disaster in an area characterised by mountains which tumble to the sea and villages which nestle in narrow valleys. Because of its topography, Italy is at high risk of landslides.
Italy’s foremost geologists assessed the landslide risk along the 30-mile stretch of coastline as high as 88% for the village of Amalfi itself, a former maritime trading republic which has given its name to the area.
The peril of mudslide is feared to be aggravated by changing weather patterns
“We're experiencing much more intense, more violent storms where a large amount of rain falls all at once,” said Andrea Reale, the mayor of Minori, one Coast’s villages.
He is hoping to install ground sensors and cameras in the hills over his village to monitor the risk of landslide and give early warning to the 800 families which populate the village.
The Amalfi Coast became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
