Giuseppe Marcantonio - Abruzzo, the Green Region; The first natural Ecological Network in Italy

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Abruzzo, the Green Region
The first natural Ecological Network in Italy
Giuseppe Marcantonio
Europe’s Wilderness Days, Soomaa, Eesti, Sep. 2011

THE BEGINNING - 1
The Abruzzo Region is located in S-C Italy. Most of its 10,750 km2 extent is covered by mountains.
Its peaks – Corno Grande in the Gran Sasso, Mt. Amaro in the Majella - are the highest of the Apennines (2800-2900 mt). Along their harsh eastern slopes they face, like a terrace, the Adriatic sea, while westwards they gradually slope down to the plains of the Latium region.
Nicola Cimini, Majella National Park, July 2011
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Geographically, the region is contiguous to the wide metropolitan areas of Rome and Naples, with over 7,000,000 inhabitants.
Its harsh climate, uneven morphology, scarcity of road network (apart from small lower areas), have made the region mostly unsuitable to large human settlements.
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THE BEGINNING - 2

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THE BEGINNING - 3
● This has prevented from big land transformations, and particularly deforestations and large urban settlements, until the beginning of the 1960’s.
● At the same time, it has allowed species like the Apennine chamois, the Marsican Brown bear, the wolf, the Golden eagle and many others to survive, while in the rest of the Italian territory an important part of the Alpine and Apennine wildlife was exterminated.
● Together with the Fauna species, vast full-grown forests and a rich vegetal endemic biodiversity have also been preserved.

THE BEGINNING - 4
Already in the XVIII century, when Abruzzo was still united with the neighbor Molise region, the first conservation measures were adopted to protect some animal species, thanks to the establishment of Royal hunting preserves: Torcino and Montedimezzo in the second half of the XVIII century, part of the currently Abruzzo N. P. in 1872.
The 1st World War and the economic straits led to the suppression of the Preserves.
Since the Apennine chamois was under critical risk of extinction, in 1913 a Royal decree prohibited its capture and killing, together with Red deer and Roe deer.
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THE BEGINNING - 5
In 1923 the Abruzzo N. P. was established.
After that, the situation in the region remained the same until the beginning of the 1970’s, when the Ministry for Agriculture, that at that time was responsible for the Protected Areas, established several State Natural Preserves.
In 1976, with the administrative devolution, the Regions were given the authority to establish Regional preserves, in addition to the State preserves.
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The environmental NGO’s start asking the Region to commit itself for the establishment of several regional parks: Majella, Gran Sasso - Laga and Sirente-Velino.
Similar proposals are also made by a trade union – CGIL – which in 1983 launches an initiative for an organic P. A. system in Abruzzo.
The Abruzzo Region in 1984, issues an organic Plan for the P. A.’s which schedules the establishment of regional parks in the areas of the Sirente - Velino, Gran Sasso - Laga, Majella, Simbruini - Ernici Mts., together with smaller preserves.
In spite of this plan, none of the cited areas actually becomes a regional P. A., but for some preserves of limited extent.
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THE BEGINNING - 6

THE BEGINNING - 7
Notwithstanding, the voice of the NGO’s , and of the society as well, raises ever louder to support the creation of the P. A.’s.
With the support of the Abruzzo N. P., the ARVE - AbruzzoRegione Verde d’Europa – initiative comes to life, promoting communication and awareness raising campaigns, unfortunately with no concrete results.
The change finally comes in 1991, when the Italian Parliament issues the General Law on Protected Areas (L. 394/91) that, as for Abruzzo, institutes the new Majella e Gran Sasso - Laga. N. P.’s. In 1993 their borders are defined, and in 1995 they officially become public bodies.
The national law also pushes the Abruzzo Region, that since 1989 had planned the creation of the Sirente – Velino Regional Park, to actually establish it in 1992.
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From now on Abruzzo, with its P. A.’s organic system which, with over 350,000 ha of extent, covers one third of the region, can be finally declared with full right “the Green Region of Europe”.
the General Law on Protected Areas is a real revolution for Italy: within few years several N. P.’s, such as Gargano, Vesuvio, Pollino, Sibillini, ForesteCasentinesi, DolomitiBellunesi, Val Grande, ArcipelagoToscano, Aspromonte, Cinque Terre were established.
This means a system of national, regional, provincial and even private (owned by environmental NGO’s) P. A.’s, covering over 3.160.000 ha of land, and involving almost all the most important ecosystems of the Alps, Apennines, islands, flatlands, coastal and marine environments and wetlands.
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FROM A.R.V.E. TO A.P.E. - 1

In this context, an important role is played by the Apennines, from Liguria to Calabria and Sicily, with 11 N. P.’s, several Regional Parks a great number of smaller P. A.’s.
In the meantime, it become ever more evident that nature conservation of “islands” of territory, such as the P.A.’s are, is not enough to ensure the animal and vegetal biodiversity conservation, which is the fundamental reason for which the P. A.’s are created.
It also becomes clear that it is impossible to preserve the biodiversity, without protecting the natural and semi-natural habitats which are the home for the biodiversity itself.
As for Europe, since the 1990’s, starting with the Directive 92/43/EEC “Habitat” the Natura 2000 network comes to life, thus developing the “ecological network” concept.
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Large natural and semi-natural areas, as well as streams and lakes, suitable to connect in an unbroken interchange system protected areas far from each other, which otherwise would remain nothing more than islands of valuable biodiversity
As for Italy, the Natura 2000 network , with its SCI and SPA, covers over than the 20% of the national territory – that is more than 6,000,000 ha.
Previously in Europe, all the States including part of the Alpine chain had already signed the Convention on the Protection of the Alps, with the aim of the long-term protection of the natural ecosystem of the Alps and sustainable development in the area, by means of applying coordinated management protocols in respect of the conservation of nature, forests and soil, tourism and recreation, energy, prevention of air pollution, water and waste management etc.
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In Italy, the Convention on the Protection of the Alps is taken as an example in the development of the project of assembling all the P. A.’s in the Apennines, from Liguria to Calabria, and the different authorities in charge of the management of the territory – State, Regions, Provinces, Municipalities, NGO’s and P.A.’s - in a global Convention which is given the name of A.P.E. - Appennino Parco d’Europa -.
On the 24th of February, 2006 in l’Aquila, in the heart of Abruzzo, the Convention is signed by the 14 involved Regions, Federparchi, ANCI, UPI, UNCEM, Legambiente, WWF, CAI, LIPU, with the common belief that it is necessary to ensure protection and sustainable development to “the whole Apennine chain and to the mountain territories connected with it and with the ecological network system which each Region has identified”.
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The Convention is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2013, and we are working in order to replace it with a wider one, involving all the Mediterranean mountains, as requested by I.U.C.N. with the Resolution 3.039 (WCC, Bangkok, 2004).
At the same time, the creation of a large institutional ecological network, able to connect the Apennines with the Alpine network, and thus with the rest of the continent, is being taken in consideration.
FROM A.P.E. TO Mo.Me. ?
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Abruzzo, the Green Region
THANK YOU
Nicola Cimini
Europe’s Wilderness Days, Soomaa, Eesti, Sep. 2011

Giuseppe Marcantonio - Abruzzo, the Green Region; The first natural Ecological Network in Italy

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