A fruitful and consolidated dialogue
A broad and lively discussion on the current state of regional parks characterized the September 16 meeting in Rome of the Federparchi Consultative Committee for Regional Protected Areas. The federation's president, Luca Santini, opened the meeting by noting that the Ministry of the Environment has established fruitful and well-established relationships with both Minister Pichetto Fratin and Undersecretary Barbaro, responsible for protected areas. This dialogue is facilitated by the direct relationship between MASE and national park authorities and marine protected areas. The situation is different, however, for regional parks, where each region has its own autonomy and specificities.
Innovative vision
"Federparchi cannot be just a body representing park governance or a mere support tool for their activities. It must be this as well, but above all, it must advance an innovative vision of environmental policies. Ours," Santini continued, "is a cross-party association that sets itself the goals of biodiversity protection and sustainable development for protected areas and, at the same time, advocates for efficient governance for parks, regardless of whether we have right-wing or left-wing national or regional governments. Our task is to be advocates and facilitators for the implementation of effective policies for protected areas, to achieve a system capable of connecting national parks, marine protected areas, and regional parks."
Animal defense
In his reply, Santini also emphasized the existing channels with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Forestry and the need to strengthen the relationship with the Ministry of Education in the field of environmental education. "We also need to rethink our cultural approach to conservation," Santini concluded. "Even today, we generally identify it with the defense of animals, starting with large mammals. Let us remember that animals make up only 0,3% of living biomass and that the plant world, starting with woods and forests, is fundamental to life on Earth."
Law proposal
Santina Grande, Vice President for Regional Parks, and Daniele Buschiazzo, Coordinator of the Consultation Committee, emphasized the need for closer ties with the State-Regions Conference, particularly regarding the financial and human resources required by regional park authorities—resources that, unfortunately, are progressively depleting. Likewise, the importance of following the progress of the proposed reform of Law 394, currently in the Senate, was emphasized. After a broad debate, all participants were invited to review and contribute to updating the document on regional parks, developed during the General Assembly of Protected Areas, held in December 2024 (Source: FEDERPARCHI).
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