Land use conflicts in the region of Zitsa

Land use conflicts in the region of Zitsa

The publish of forest maps has raised a number of issues with regard to existing land uses. Areas that prove to be arable by aerial photographs of 1945/1960, today have become forest. Residents of various rural areas protest against this development and ask for the reformation of forest maps in order to be able to use the land for agriculture. The development of viticulture in the Zitsa vineyard has provided international recognition to local vine varieties and the wines of the region have been designated products of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). In this paper, the Vineyard Zone of Zitsa’s area were digitized, by the use of Geographical Information Systems, including the areas classified as forest. Unstructured interviews were conducted with professional Foresters and the ownership status was investigated in the area to identify possible declassification solutions for the forest fields.