An Application of Grass to the Study of the Antropic Pressure on the Italian Coasts

The coastal environment represents a complex natural system strongly conditioned both from the anthropic action and the natural agent. It is closely connected to the fluvial net that, with its solid contribution, feeds the beaches, balancing the destructive action of the seas storm. During the last few decades the deterioration of the coastal environment is exploded on world-wide scale in all its gravity. An obvious effect is the regression of the river line and the set up of the erosive phenomena. The natural balance of a coast field can be remarkably modified from the man action both taking part on the solid transport of the water course and constructing dams along the rivers, and from a wrong management of the beaches, construction for defence of the same-selves which paint-brushes, artificial reefs, other obstructions, and with the elimination of the flora of dunes and the removal of certain marine plants that, in many cases, act just as defender of the sand, and with the realization of several infrastructures for tourist installations, wharves, etc. Moreover during the last century the Italian coastal system has assisted to a strong anthropical process that has remarkably transformed the natural and environmental territory. The realization of great streets and railway infrastructures, often too much close to the beaches, and the numerous processes of urbanization that have carried to the expansion of the coastal cities, have constituted the assumption of the creation, in the greater part of the territory, of a linear coastal takeover. In spite of this constant aggression, our coasts still conserve elements of important naturalness, that must be conserved and appreciates. They are constituted from morphologic and environmental emergencies that interrupt the linear city agglomeration. Therefore a clean radical change of direction on the politics of development of the coastal city centers become necessary to safeguard and to appreciate the little areas still not built up. In Italy there are beaches that withdraw rapidly for metres. The coast is more and more used as an endless and indestructible good on which to work indefinitely without any consequence. This delicate sector has been progressively attacked instead of managing it as a precious good that should last for along time in order to have a better economic result. In order to favour a constant monitoring of anthropic impact in Italian coasts has been elaborated an informatic tool that helps to see the actual situation and to control constantly its evolution in time. 2. METHODOLOGY