100 years have passed since "The Piave murmured calmly and placidly as the first infantrymen passed on May 24th… ". And, coincidentally, 24 have passed since in the upper part of its catchment basin the then Regional Forestry Company of Veneto (today "Veneto Agriculture") and then the Municipality of Perarolo di Cadore (Belluno) designated what is considered the first Alpine Wilderness Area (in reality, geographically speaking, only the second): Valmontina. The day before yesterday, July 31, the Municipality of Crocetta del Montello, in the Province of Treviso, has designated what is the first sector of the second Wilderness Area of the Veneto Region: a sector of 940 hectares, called the Piave della Battaglia Wilderness Area. A great success for theAssociation Italian for Wilderness that for over thirty years it has been fighting to ensure that some wild areas of Italy remain as they were and have come to us; a commitment to safeguard which, especially in this case, are the best and dutiful commemorative act in memory of the thousands of Italian soldiers who a hundred years ago fought that battle for the reconquest of the homeland that had been stolen from us, many sacrificing their lives, others returning to their homes with disabilities, and still others with stories of unspeakable sacrifices, happy only to be back. On the banks of the river and also in its shore, there have already been for years, stones and memorials that recall those events and all those deaths, but it was never thought that perhaps the best thing to do to remember them and to remember all that tragic and heroic event in which they were involved, was to give a perennial protection to the place where the battle took place.
This proposal, a few years ago was advanced by the undersigned Association, so that a large Wilderness Area could be reached that would preserve that stretch of river over 20 kilometers long and vast thousands of hectares, considered precisely the "Piave della Battaglia". Today, the forerunner of this initiative, which falls precisely in its centenary, the first stone of an idea rather than a monument, has been set by the Municipality that owns most of that wild river bed: Cross Montello, led by a Mayor who evidently knew how to understand the value of this initiative, the Dr. Marianella Tormen. The proposal, at the time then supported by the AIW Province of Treviso Section (later Treviso-Segugi & Segugisti, and today Alto Trevigiano) led by Avv. Alberto Filippin, and by Dr. Justin Mezzalire, manager of the forest sector of "Veneto Agriculture" and former creator of the aforementioned first Veneto Wilderness Area, but, above all, strongly supported and then presented to the City Council, by the AIW Regional Delegate for Veneto, Gianni Garbujo, who with an engaging report to the City Council was able to give credibility to the Idea and convince all the Councilors so that the proposal passed with the unanimous votes of the majority and minority, as it then happened - and as always, the AIW asks the Municipalities when it advances these proposals (insofar as they are free from politics and based only on the recognition of cultural and environmental values that all citizens must feel the duty to safeguard, regardless of their economic and / or political-party interests).
That stretch of the Piave River from today, August 2018, will therefore be truly made known, but perhaps it is better to say remembered, to the media, also for a wise tourist purpose, for that "battle of the solstice" of a hundred years ago (it was June 1918), as it is preserved in its ancient state, and without impeding all those uses and activities of the local rural world that have always been done or practiced there.
Of the long course of the Piave, from its source in Val Visdende to its outlet in the Adriatic Sea in Jesolo, this which from today will be known as the Piave della Battaglia Wilderness Area (69th Italy Wilderness Area) preserves the most uninterrupted stretch left in the its long course. An area that will also be a free relief valve for future floods that may affect the Piave basin. Perhaps the wisest of decisions governments should make when concerned with such events, rather than planning costly water harnessing and containment. In conclusion, Wilderness is this too!
Frank Zunino
Secretary General of the Italian Wilderness Association