The infrastructure contribution to the regional development and the environmental protection: Typologies of regional units based on forest operations engineering

The purpose of this article is to investigate the contribution of mountainous infrastructure and in particular forest operations engineering in its development, environmental protection, adaptation to climate change and policy making, in order to achieve more rational use of natural and financial resources. The research focuses on forest operations engineering funded by the Rural Development Program of Greece and were executed or will be executed by the Forest Services and Municipalities of the country during the Programming Periods 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 respectively. Data related to reforestation, fire protection, mountain waterworks and forest road projects constructed in the forest area are being analysed, followed by a description of their role in protecting the adjacent areas from fires, floods and in general effects of climate change, or contribute to regional and local development through assisting accessibility, upgrading the landscape aesthetically, creating jobs, etc. Finally, comparisons are made between the regional units and the clusters - clusters of regional units between the two program periods. The identification of clusters of regional units will contribute to the creation of a clearer understanding of the problems of the mountainous area and to the evaluation of the possibilities for a more rational development, creating the conditions for the choice of alternatives, depending on the general economic or social objectives. The data are taken from the Rural Development Program and relate to the funding that has been given or projected to be given for the execution of forest technical projects over two programming periods (2007-2013 and 2014-2020) at the level of regional unit. The data are processed by methods of descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis and in particular the cluster analysis of the executed and to be executed forest technical projects (especially projects related to reforestation, fire protection, mountain waterworks and forest road projects). This typology is particularly relevant, in the context of the effort for more rational mobilization and planned utilization of financial resources, based on the comparative advantages of each cluster-cluster of regional units.