The Caetani Forest in the Pontine Marshes Italy (19th-20th century). Management and exploitation by a noble landowner

The paper examines the history of the forest owned by the Dukes of Sermoneta, the Caetani family, situated in the Pontine Marshes region south of Rome. Chronologically, the study covers the period from the early decades of the nineteenth century—when the Dukes of Sermoneta began intensive exploitation of the woodland to meet the growing demand for coal and firewood—to the early 1920s, when the descendants of Duke Onorato Caetani VII decided to sell off the land still covered by woodland in order to focus on agricultural development. Through this case study, we outline a long historical period characterized by a variety of economic and commercial activities, which can be reconstructed thanks to the existence of a wealth of first-hand archival material. The main consequence of the decisions taken by the Caetani family—a prime example of a large noble estate—was the reduction in the area of lowland woodland, thereby initiating the first phase of the reclamation of the Pontine Marshes. The Caetani family implemented an entrepreneurial strategy that marked a significant shift in the region’s environmental balance.