THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND THE OCCUPATION OF THE TERRITORY

As any other human activity, tourism has an impact on the territory and, since the tourist usually looks for the most pleasant places, this impact has been particularly negative because it aimed at changing, usually for the worst, the most beautiful resorts.

An almost tragic example concerns folklore. The arrival of tourists who want to enjoy popular traditions changes the social and economic context where they developed. Events become artificial and stereotypical and lose their originality. The reason causing the flow of tourists is therefore lost: tourism kills itself.

Something similar happens for the territory. Some years ago, while I was looking at the Acapulco bay in Mexico, I was thinking of how a wonderful place had been completed covered with concrete and had become a sort of disorganised and chaotic town by the sea. It is not possible to bathe in the waters of the bay because they are completely polluted and the tourists throng the swimming pools of mass-produced hotels. Also in this case, tourism has killed the reason itself for which it exists. And this happens not only in Mexico but in Italy as well, where there are many examples.

The case of La Francesca is different because it is included in the "heart" of the Parco del Cilento, one of the most beautiful and largest natural parks in Italy, which Unesco included in the World Heritage list a short time ago.

We did not want to intensively exploit the territory. At La Francesca there is a sleeping accommodation every 250 sq. m. of private park (without considering the National Park surrounding it) and, above all, we tried to change our environment as little as possible.

The change in the territory and water regimen

For example, we minimised the water-proofing of the surface (in practice the access road and the small square), building all the paths by using materials allowing water absorption and drain.

The bungalows were built on pillars separating them from the ground and this has two advantages: to keep a free surface underneath and prevent excessive excavations resulting in permanent changes of the site. It was decided to build prefab bungalows in that light buildings cause no heavy and permanent changes.

We carefully studied the regimen of waters, trying to avoid the use of highly artificial systems and to keep the existing conditions of downflow and drainage wherever possible. In case of average rainfalls, erosion and dragging phenomena hardly occur and the seawater remains clean.

Only the most violent summer rainstorms cause the waters to downflow directly into the bay. This is a natural phenomenon also where nature has not been change by men.

The upkeep of the wood and the use of natural materials

The upkeep of the beautiful wood of La Francesca is one of our main strongholds. It is a typical Mediterranean wood in the whole part occupied by our Village, while Punta Garigliano is covered by a thick and original Mediterranean maquis.

It was not us who planted oaks, olive trees and carob trees; many trees are centuries-old, including the huge oak just in front of the sea.

We boast to have kept, respected and cultivated in a natural way what can also be considered as an historical evidence because many of the centuries-old trees are real monuments. No centuries-old tree has been cut.

The two olive trees that pass through our main building roof symbolise the protectionist choice we are proud of. Pruning and cutting smaller trees are, instead, part of the wood upkeep operations made to improve its growth and development. We see them as depending on the wood itself and not as an element of increased productivity. Although they produce plenty of fruits, the olive trees are merely pruned to improve their foliage and growth conditions and not to increase the production of olives.

The wood thanked us for the care with which we treat it, creating the special climate that characterises La Francesca: a totally and thickly shaded place kept cool even in summer.

Arriving from Scario or from the beach, just after the entrance to the Village, one is immediately surrounded by something different and pleasant. Not an artificial air conditioning, but a natural coolness.

The maximum measured temperatures are on the average two to four degrees lower than the ones reported by meteorologists in the surrounding areas. The wood now completely surrounds the bungalows and covers them completely; also the outer terraces are almost completely shaded by the trees which are much more efficient and beautiful than a traditional umbrella.

The wood hides La Francesca from the view, so that one of our slogans is the invisible village. It is impossible to see it from the sea, but even from the helicopter we could not take pictures of the bungalows. From above, only the shapes of the main buildings can be spotted, but they are mainly covered by the foliage of the nearby or "included" trees.

When building paths or walls, we more and more use stones, especially local stones. Concrete is only used when there is no alternative, but in many cases we are replacing it with natural materials.