Abstract

The design of nature reserves is becoming, more and more, a crucial task for ensuring the conservation of endangered wildlife. In order to guarantee the preservation of species and a general ecological functioning, the designed reserves must typically verify a series of spatial requirements. Among the required characteristics, practitioners and researchers have pointed out two crucial aspects: (i) connectivity, so as to avoid spatial fragmentation, and (ii) the design of buffer zones surrounding (or protecting) so-called core areas.