Piedmont is the high-altitude ‘green queen’ with 5 green banners; Friuli Venezia Giulia has 4, Veneto 3. Lombardy and Aosta Valley won 2 flags, while Alto Adige, Liguria and Trentino have one flag each. But let us look at some of the award winners.
There is the “Acqua Viva” biopark in the municipality of Caraglio (Cn), created thanks to the clever redevelopment of a former military powder magazine. There is the municipality of Enego (Vi), which has achieved excellent results in forest restoration after the Vaia storm. There are the promoters of the “Baumgart” initiative, aimed at restoring traditional orchards in the urban areas of Bolzano.
The awards ceremony and the official “handover” of the Green Flags took place in Venzone (Ud) during the two-day 7th National Green Flags Summit, designed together with Legambiente Friuli Venezia Giulia, as an opportunity for experts, associations, citizens and local authorities to meet and exchange views.
Alongside the virtuous stories, however, Legambiente still reports several unsustainable practices in our Alpine areas. For this reason it has awarded 11 black flags: 10 of these went to public institutions in the Alpine arc and one to a private party. Friuli Venezia Giulia collects the most black flags, 3 in all, followed by Lombardy and Trentino (2 black flags each), with Aosta Valley, Veneto and Alto Adige receiving one black flag each, and Piedmont one.
“The mountains are proving to be a resilient area and to offer new opportunities, thus responding to the climate crisis and depopulation,” said Giorgio Zampetti, Director General of Legambiente. “But the mountains must not be left alone. Besides the great work that local areas are doing, it is important to bring together national measures and resources as well, starting with those of the PNRR, to support mountain communities, also expanding and strengthening basic services and more mitigation and adaptation policies that truly put these areas at the centre.”
The 2023 Green Flag winners
Municipalities:
- The municipality of Balme (To) for choosing to base its future prospects on preserved nature and the traditional landscape, including through courageous resolutions such as the one against tourist use of motor vehicles;
- The municipality of Enego (Vi) for taking action on forest restoration after the Vaia storm, bringing together the intentions and collaboration of different bodies, companies and associations within a general masterplan of measures to rebuild the forests and redefine the pastures of the Piana di Marcesina;
- The municipality of Caraglio (Cn) for an innovative project that has made it possible to restore a degraded area: from a former military powder magazine to the “Acqua Viva” Biopark;
- The municipality of Valdieri (Cn) which, only a few months after taking office, tackled, for example, the question of the civic uses of the Valasco valley within its municipal territory.
Local operators:
The managers of the Deiva mountain huts (Sv) for keeping huts in the area as places of hospitality and as a presence for a community with positive values, consistent with the principles of sustainability; - Ivan Provenzale and family for choosing to live since 2019 in an uninhabited village in the Val Tramontina (Pn), promoting community experiences aimed at co-designing a convivial and sustainable future; t
- he LASSÙ Cooperative of Comelico Superiore (Bl) for raising awareness of environmental issues in the local community, for proposals to revive forms of sustainable economy linked to the forest resource, and for creating a physical platform for knowledge of the area, development proposals and protection;
- the social enterprise Dolomiti Hub, Fonzaso (Bl) for the cultural and social projects it has developed, the result of regenerating a former factory to counter ongoing depopulation;
- Malga Riondera in Ala (Tn), a farm and agritourism business in the Trentino Prealps with great attention to environmental sustainability, both in its energy-saving choices and in calculating the farm’s water balance.
Local associations and pro loco:
The Committee for the Expansion of the Mont Avic Park, Fénis (Ao) for the willingness to extend the Park’s territory onto its own land; t- he Association for the Ecomuseum of Valle Elvo and Serra Sordevolo (Bi) for recovering knowledge and building skills still suited today to the development and management of mountain areas;
- the Aosta Iacta Est Association, Aosta (Ao) for having organised over the past fifteen years the “Giocaosta” event, which shows a community’s ability to offer social gathering and tourist appeal with zero impact;
- the Eastern Lario Chestnut Growers Association, Sala al Barro (Lc) for promoting the good practice of caring for chestnut groves;
- the Gruppo Sentieri Amici della Storia di Val Brembilla Association (Bg) for the constant commitment of its volunteers to restoring and maintaining a network of paths between ancient hamlets of great identity, ethnographic and natural value;
- the associations and bodies promoting the Baumgart Initiative – traditional orchards of Bolzano (Bz) for restoring traditional orchards in the urban areas of Bolzano.
- A flag in memory of and in tribute to Remo Cacitti, who passed away on 3 March, handed to the Amici di Venzone association and the municipality of Venzone (Ud) for Remo Cacitti’s decisive contribution to the reconstruction of Venzone’s historic centre and its fourteenth-century cathedral.
- And also the Podén Association, Forni di Sotto (Ud) for enabling the reopening of a small village’s library and promoting interesting and original cultural initiatives;
- the Pro Loco of Preone (Ud) for a project, focused on slow tourism and on showcasing the area’s natural features, that is aimed at the whole community. Alpstream –
- International Centre for the Study of Alpine Rivers, Ostana (Cn), rewarded for its important research on Alpine rivers.
