MARGINAL AREAS AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT. SERRE REGIONAL PARK’S ROLE 

The Serre Park was founded with Regional Law n. 48 issued in 5/5/1990 and delimitated with Government act of Calabria President n. 138 issued in 16/12/2003, is the fi rst Regional Natural Park instituted in Calabria. This protected area, icon of a landscape that is an unicum, is set in the Calabrian Serre, one of the most beautiful mountain in the Mediterranean area, but less known. This Park has a natural and cultural heritage composite, even if underestimated and often lethargic. The Serre area – peripheral zone as the whole Region – is set on in the land isolated by roughness of nature and the connected historical events. A land with historical unclear traditions, but also charming landscapes, that transforms this geographical site in place of the soul. The Serre Park, with other area’s natural resources, is able to turn into a systemic action and synergistic, virtuous processes of local development, in terms of tourism, economic and cultural; this is possible because the area draws the uniqueness of the place, with their identity, the unmistakable physiognomy rich in natural, historical and cultural values.  Keywords: Calabria, Serre Regional Park, local development.