876 Provision of Public Goods Through Mountain Meadows and Pastures in Aosta Valley (Italy) Patrizia Borsotto, Sylvie Chaussod and Stefano Trione National Institute of Agricultural Economics (Italy) Abstract: The traditional exploitation of meadows and pastures in Aosta Valley ensures the pro- vision of high value public goods, including biodiversity conservation, soil functionality, preser- vation of landscapes, for the whole local community and tourists. In Aosta Valley, meadows and pastures cover about 54,000 hectares; 42,000 hectares of which are alpine pastures. There are about 300 mountain pastures and about 200 of these are used for the production of Fontina PDO cheese, with about 29,000 cattle and 3,800 sheep and goats moved to alpine pastures in summer for grazing. The opportunity to exploit higher pastures must enable the farmers to meet the need to store hay for winter feed in the valleys so cattle move from valleys to mountain pastures in summer. In many cases, smaller farms in the valleys take their cattle, sheep and goats to other farms that own or rent large mountain pastures. The sustainable management of mountain mead- ows and pastures relies on a complex network of actors, including local breeders, the mountain pasture owners (also municipalities), milk buyers, Fontina PDO cheese producers, and the re- gional governments. To ensure the appropriate management of meadows and pastures, farms are mainly supported by the agri-environmental schemes under the Rural Development Programme. The main objectives of these schemes are the protection of the environment, landscape and biodi- versity; water quality improvement; and greenhouse gas reduction. It is useful to point out that it is absolutely necessary to maintain the support to farms following those schemes. Keywords: Alpine meadows and pastures; biodiversity conservation, soil functionality, land- scape preservation; Aosta Valley Public goods from the meadows and pastures The extra productive functions of meadows and pastures Aosta Valley is the smallest Italian region, located in the extreme north-west of Italy, with an entirely mountainous region that stretches 3,260 sq km. The meadows and the pastures in the Aosta vally are agri-ecosystems that are distinguished from other crops by their multifunctionality as they combine the production function with a series of extra values, which are similar in many aspects to those of natural ecosystems (Gusmeroli, 2012). Specific ecosystem services correspond to the extra functions, and include environmental functions, such as protec- tion of biodiversity, soil protection, reduction of erosion and slope stabilization, and fire preven- tion, as well as preserving the landscape and traditional culture. In general, the meadows and pas- tures ensure the long-term viability, including economic viability, in the most marginal areas (Fig. 1). The important protective function provided by meadows and mountain pastures consists first of all in the maintenance of soil fertility because the presence of sward prevents leaching and the dispersion of mineral elements in the environment. Similarly, the presence of sward contributes