The alpine forests located in the north-east of the country have been an inexhaustible source of construction timber since the Roman period; the valleys of the Piave and Adige were the backbone of trade with the plain from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century and still today provide the best construction timber. It is in the 14th–16th that the systematic exploitation of the forest begins also from the point of view of the creation of the technical and commercial structures necessary for forest utilizations. The production of construction timber was part of a complex of functions performed by the forests and regulated by the alpine communities. These are institutions that in the Upper Piave Valley organised themselves into the Magnificent Community of Cadore, in 1338. The most intense exploitation of these forests starts after the incorporation of Cadore in the Venetian domains in 1420. Studies of pollen diagrams have shown a significant human influence in the distribution of vegetation on the Italian Alps due to timber trade with the steady growth of conifers until the twentieth century. The climatic conditions, the orography, the hydrography, the lack of the roads in the alpine environment that characterizes the Piave Valley necessitated the development of a wide range of techniques and structures specifically designed to overcome these difficulties and bring the timber down to the plains by river driving. The increase in volumes of timber traded along the Piave river led to the gradual establishment of customs in the management of forests that took into account not only economic needs, but also the conservation of the forest, and which were applied and respected for several centuries. The management system applied in is selective cut, which originates as a system removing individual trees from a forest, in opposition to the cutting of all the trees typical of clear-cutting as occurring in the nearby province of Trentino. This system established that the tree was felled when it had reached maturity, understood as commercial “maturity”, with the aim of providing certain assortments required by the market. The growth of timber trade in this area continued until the first world war bringing the Italian timber dealers to dominate the market, cutting forests also in the countries of the Austrian empire and importing to Italy. After the war Austria took the leadership in timber production directly exporting timber to Italy, this marked end of timber industry in the northeast of Italy and the birth of the Italian furniture industry as a result of the changes in the market conditions.

The Timber Forests in the Eastern Alps

章节
发表日期：

2025年

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Mauro Agnoletti

摘要

The alpine forests located in the north-east of the country have been an inexhaustible source of construction timber since the Roman period; the valleys of the Piave and Adige were the backbone of trade with the plain from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century and still today provide the best construction timber. It is in the 14th–16th that the systematic exploitation of the forest begins also from the point of view of the creation of the technical and commercial structures necessary for forest utilizations. The production of construction timber was part of a complex of functions performed by the forests and regulated by the alpine communities. These are institutions that in the Upper Piave Valley organised themselves into the Magnificent Community of Cadore, in 1338. The most intense exploitation of these forests starts after the incorporation of Cadore in the Venetian domains in 1420. Studies of pollen diagrams have shown a significant human influence in the distribution of vegetation on the Italian Alps due to timber trade with the steady growth of conifers until the twentieth century. The climatic conditions, the orography, the hydrography, the lack of the roads in the alpine environment that characterizes the Piave Valley necessitated the development of a wide range of techniques and structures specifically designed to overcome these difficulties and bring the timber down to the plains by river driving. The increase in volumes of timber traded along the Piave river led to the gradual establishment of customs in the management of forests that took into account not only economic needs, but also the conservation of the forest, and which were applied and respected for several centuries. The management system applied in is selective cut, which originates as a system removing individual trees from a forest, in opposition to the cutting of all the trees typical of clear-cutting as occurring in the nearby province of Trentino. This system established that the tree was felled when it had reached maturity, understood as commercial “maturity”, with the aim of providing certain assortments required by the market. The growth of timber trade in this area continued until the first world war bringing the Italian timber dealers to dominate the market, cutting forests also in the countries of the Austrian empire and importing to Italy. After the war Austria took the leadership in timber production directly exporting timber to Italy, this marked end of timber industry in the northeast of Italy and the birth of the Italian furniture industry as a result of the changes in the market conditions.