Terasirane pokrajine v Sloveniji kot kulturna vrednota (Slovene)

Slovenia is a country of great landscape diversity and there are few European countries that have as many cultivated terraces. These appear as a characteristic landscape element in all types of Slovenian landscapes, although they differ in their frequency, form, purpose, and function today. Terraced landscapes may be defined as a complex landscape system in which the physical geographical and socio-geographical subsystems are in a sensitive balance. Contemporary processes such as globalization and economic integration have a strong influence on terraced landscape systems. The Honghe Declaration on the Preservation and Development of Cultivated Terraces, which was adopted in November 2010 as part of the First World Conference on Terraced Landscapes, draws attention to terraced landscapes as a pressing and topical issue and to the special significance of terraced landscapes today.   Despite the important role of cultivated terraces for the Slovenian economy and their indisputable function in creating landscapes, with rare exceptions this topic has not received sufficient attention in Slovenian research. It would be justified to expect more research to be carried out in this area, especially in geography.   The basic goal of the project is a complex geographical assessment of terraced landscapes, which will primarily be based on developing a comprehensive and systematic typology of Slovenian terraced landscapes, a statistical analysis of the codependence of cultivated terrace systems and other landscape systems, and a definition of the multilayered significance of terraced cultivated landscapes for contemporary society. The project will address the extent to which cultivated terraces today contribute to the (1) significance, (2) identity, and (3) economic composition of individual landscapes, and the issue of how to manage the risks that are arising in many Slovenian terraced landscapes due to cultivation (e.g., intensive agricultural activity), deterioration (e.g., landslides), or changes affecting cultivated terraces.

Our research endeavors will also awaken interest among representatives of other disciplines that could contribute significantly to improving our knowledge of cultivated terraces and terraced landscapes, and this will certainly be met with interest among those responsible for the protection of Slovenia’s natural and cultural heritage. It is precisely in this sensitive area that we could contribute to moving beyond narrow special interests and promoting more comprehensive professional criteria. Realization of project made us possible to stay active in International Terraced Landscapes Alliance (ITLA), which was established within first world conference about this topics in southern China province Yunnan. We attended also the Second international conference on terraced landscapes, which was held in May 2013 in Peru. By international approach, our findings are more easily be incorporated into the collection of knowledge about terraced landscapes in the world, Mediterranean and Alpine Arc. In this way also Slovenians are able to contribute our knowledge to methodology and its implementation – specially in researches within Mediterranean countries, where terraces are an inseparable landscape element. We included a number of junior researchers in our work, who thereby gained experience with interdisciplinary work and teamwork. At the same time, their fresh perspectives and enthusiasm additionally enriched the project and aided its promotion. Through research work they improved specially their skill of using geographical information systems.

Slovenian terraced landscapes are genetically, morphologically, functionally, and not least of all socio-geographically so diverse that they must be studied systematically, and also precisely recorded. With regard to direct significance of the research, we would like to highlight the contribution to further maintenance of cultural landscapes and thus also to preservation of settling in the Slovenian countryside. The Slovenian cultural landscape, and in many places also terraced landscapes, is being increasingly overgrown by forest, which reduces the opportunities for any significant production of food for the country’s own needs. We also cannot overlook the opportunity to learn more in the course of studying threats to landscapes and the risks created when development upsets the delicate natural balance. Our studies contribute to reducing risks in areas with existing cultivated terraces; in addition, we seek to reduce the risks posed to potential new development of this sort, required modernization and improvement of access to these terraces, and potential establishment of irrigation infrastructure. An attractive and tidy terraced landscape can have considerable tourism potential, whether for recreation or cuisine, or as one of the experientially most attractive segments of the cultural landscape.