Land use

Most of the land is covered in forest and maquis. Near to settlements there are small gardens for fruit trees and vegetables. Some are irrigated by small water channels. Chestnut trees are very common and used to provide the staple crop. Chestnuts were dried in ovens and then crushed to make flour. Today the fruits are not systematically collected. Pine wood was used for building and furniture. Oak is used for fuel and pigs feed on the acorns in season. The maquis and the mountain land provide rough grazing for goats, sheep, pigs and cattle.

Land in the mountains used to be cleared from time to time by cutting the vegetation and burning it. A wall would be built around the new plot and crops (rye, barley) sown. Ownership seems to have been established by use. Legal records provide numerous inquisitions to this end. Closer to the village or mountain hamlets, wooded areas and open land were better defined. Marked stones pietri crociati were used to indicate property boundaries. Trees were a very important form of property and their ownership and rights to their use seem to have been closely defined. In the 19th century, the commune rented out its mountain pastures to shepherds coming up from the coast.

Houses, woodland, trees and open land are frequently jointly owned by a number of people. This makes selling to outsiders very difficult. Many sales take place within extended families to reorganise property. Before the nineteenth century landed property was divided among sons. Daughters recieved linen, livestock and cash as dowries. Legal changes then gave female children rights to all property but various mechanisms were used to keep land and houses in the male line.