Cnr, Fondazione Marevivo and NBFC celebrated the Day with an initiative at the Castelporziano Presidential Estate. Delivered to the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, the « Charter for the protection of marine biodiversity » by Marevivo. Reaffirmed the need for collective responsibility towards the country’s natural heritage
On Friday, May 22, the Marevivo Foundation, the National Research Council (Cnr) and the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) celebrated World Biodiversity Day in Rome with a special event at the Castelporziano Presidential Estate.
The day, which also celebrates the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Marevivo, was divided into two moments: a first itinerant part in which researchers from the institutions involved, students from the classes participating in the European citizen science campaign « Plastic Pirates – Go Europe! » conducted by the Cnr, volunteers and experts illustrated to the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and the public present videos, panels, exhibitions and installations dedicated to the theme of biodiversity; then a panel organized in the Trophies Hall, in which they spoke, in the presence of the Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini, the representatives of the organizations involved to deepen the issues related to the protection and knowledge of nature: the President of the Marevivo Foundation Rosalba Giugni, the President of the Cnr Andrea Lenzi, the President of NBFC Luigi Fiorentino, and the greeting of the President of the Zoological Station « Anton Dohrn » Roberto Bassi, moderated by the journalist Riccardo Luna.
The initiative recalled the principles enshrined in Article 9 of the Italian Constitution, which recognizes the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems as founding values of the Republic, reaffirming the need for collective responsibility towards the country’s natural heritage.
« It is a great honor for our 40 years to share the Marevivo mission with the Head of State, whom we deeply respect and thank for his valuable institutional commitment – said Rosalba Giugni, President of Marevivo. – We are convinced that environmental education is a key point in the formation of citizens, because you cannot protect what you do not know. Every young person can become the guardian of the sea and the future of the ocean is written today, in school classrooms and in daily choices. Research, Education, Participation, Rules and Care are the key words of the route to follow. The sea has generated us. It’s up to us, now, to educate for his future to defend life on the planet ».
“The protection of biodiversity, sanctioned these days also by the renewal of the Agreement between Cnr and the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, represents a collective responsibility and an essential priority of our daily commitment as researchers. It means defending the environmental, economic and cultural heritage of our country, one of the richest in biodiversity in the world, » said Cnr President Andrea Lenzi. « I am particularly happy to see so many young students here, today, who have joined our projects: their active involvement is essential to promote an increasingly solid culture oriented towards respect and sustainability of each other’s choices. »
In his speech, the President of NBFC Luigi Fiorentino stated that « today’s challenge is to move from environmental protection to a culture of biodiversity, where the restoration of nature is not seen as a cost, but as an act of civilization, a necessary engine of a different development. In this perspective, the goal of NBFC is to be able to bring the protection and restoration of biodiversity outside the enclosure of a technical operation, to become an ambition and a common practice ».
The traveling route was preceded by the performance of the national anthem, sung for the occasion by the tenor Valerio Rossi Albertini, researcher of the Cnr and member of the scientific committee of Marevivo.
At the Horing Court, Cnr researchers, together with the Ulderico Midossi Institute of Civita Castellana, NBFC representatives, experts and Marevivo volunteers illustrated the initiatives resulting from their commitment through projects, installations and dissemination activities. The Cnr presented, in particular, a selection of content dedicated to the theme of biodiversity taken from the interactive scientific exhibition « Anthropocene. The Earth with iron and fire », an informative path that makes visible the impacts of human activity on natural systems.
In the Cloist of the Estate, NBFC exhibited the exhibition « Praise of Diversity – A journey into Italian ecosystems » illustrated by the curator, Isabella Saggio; while in the Portico the traveling exhibition of Marevivo « Only One » was set up, created to raise awareness among citizens and institutions on the urgency of implementing the ecological transition, illustrated by the vice president of the Foundation, Ferdinando Boero. A digital totem dedicated to biodiversity protection activities carried out by the Cnr-Iret under the Cnr-Quirinale Agreement was, finally, set up in the entrance staircase.
As a final moment of the meeting, Marevivo presented and delivered to the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella the « Charter for the protection of Marine Biodiversity », celebrating, with it, forty years of commitment to the protection of the marine ecosystem. Designed to promote the protection of the environment and the sea, the Charter is born from the assumption that the climate crisis and the progressive degradation of marine ecosystems make a paradigm shift necessary: protecting marine biodiversity as a strategic priority to guarantee the future of the Planet and the younger generations. The Charter was read by two students from the Nautical Institutes « Acciaiuoli – Einaudi » of Ortona and « Calamatta » of Civitavecchia, representing the « NauticinBlu » project of Marevivo. The delivery of the document to the Head of State has a strong symbolic value, namely the transfer of responsibility between different generations that collaborate for a common purpose: to protect the sea. Among the projects carried out in this sense by Marevivo: « Il Mare a Scuola », « NauticinBlu », « Delfini Guardiani » and the « River and Urban Biodiversity Center », born in collaboration with the National Research Council (Cnr) as part of the initiatives promoted by the Biodiversity Gateway of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) and hosted by the National headquarters of the Foundation.
The « Charter for the Protection of Marine Biodiversity » intends to spread a new culture of nature and the sea, reiterating the central function of environmental education in schools and promoting regulatory tools such as Law no. 60 of 2022, called « SalvaMare ». A strategic role is also recognized to the 32 Italian Marine Protected Areas, considered not only places of conservation, but scientific research, dissemination and training, capable of involving young marine biologists, researchers and disseminators in a shared path of knowledge and protection.
As a symbol of sustainability and biodiversity, Rosalba Giugni also delivered to the Head of State the scarf made for Marevivo by Master Claudio Cutuli in nettle yarn, a fiber with low environmental impact, with natural pigments, and then treated with Posidonia oceanica, an endemic species of the Mediterranean.
source : CNR
