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 Apennine Park of Europe Project
Regione Abruzzo
The Apennine Park of Europe project (APE) started in 1995, an idea of Regione
Abruzzo, Legambiente, and the Nature Conservation Service of the Environment
Ministry. It is the most important project in Italy for the protection and
improvement of the entire Apennine ridge. Its importance comes not only from
the expanse of the territory (the whole Apennine chain is about 1500 km, from
Piedmont to Sicily, covering more than one-third of the national territory with
more than 2300 municipalities, 64 provinces and 15 regions), but also from its
potential to be a source of environmental promotion and action.
It is the biggest biodiversity heritage in Italy and there are a high number of
protected areas and therefore valuable interregional systems promoting tangible
policies for sustainable development and the protection of nature. This is good
both for inhabitants and tourists.
Protected Areas
As the biggest Park in Europe, more than 50% of its officially protected surface
is around the ridge, including: 12 National Parks, 71 State Natural Reserves, 46
Regional Parks, 68 Regional Reserves, protected areas, European Union Important
Sites and the Special Protection Areas which have been designated as a result of the
Birds and Habitat Directives. The mountains are highly populated with more than
10 million inhabitants in about nine million hectares (31% of the national territory).
The Project is Euro-Mediterranean with particular attention to the Mediterranean
and the Balkans. The Apennine has always been a bridge between Central
Europe and the Mediterranean connecting different economies, cultures and
complementary environments.
Since the first APE forum took place in December 1995, in L’Aquila, with all the
institutional, economic and social stakeholders, the most important steps have been:
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1 April 1999: the signing of the Programme Agreement between the
Environment Ministry and Regione Abruzzo as region leader. The objective is the
promotion of an action programme for an overall strategy for the protection of
the nature and the sustainable development of a Apennine territorial system,
starting from the net of natural protected areas, in line with the EU directives
(the EU action Programme for Environment and Sustainable Development “For
a Durable Sustainable Development”). |
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15 February 2000: Interministerial Commitee for Economic Planning (CIPE)
approval of the APE Project Action Programme; |
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4 August 2000: CIPE allocates 35 billion liras (18,076 million Euros) for the
co-financing of the APE Project Action Programme, according to the Programme
Agreement; |
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1 February 2001: CIPE approves the distribution of the available economic
resources, approving four interregional pilot projects; and, |
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Regione Abruzzo approves the programme “Material and Immaterial Migration
Routes”, concerning the migration of the animals from Abruzzo to the south of
Italy, in order to use the 15 billion liras funds distributed. |
The Apennine Convention
Dr Franco Caramanico, Regional Councillor Environment and Energy, carried out
the technical and political work which led to the Apennine Convention, signed
on 24 February 2006 and approved by the 15 Italian Regional Governments who
have territory on the Apennine.
This convention highlights the natural and cultural richness of the Apennine, the
importance of this heritage for inhabitants and tourists, the need to strengthen
national cooperation and to assemble economic interests and ecologic needs.
It is a significant initial step that unites the regions, the ministry, municipalities,
mountain communities, provinces and environment associations.
The strategy concentrates on the need for a common action, for a national and
international partnership in order to create sustainable development models
for the entire Apennine system. The convention is the tool to start the process of protection and improvement because it acknowledges the strategic role of
the Apennine in the Euro-Mediterranean context and includes the APE Project
among the priorities of the Regional and National Strategies and the 2007-2013
Structural Funds.
It is also a commitment to find an adequate common approach based on the
principles of protection of the natural environments.
The Regions commit themselves to guarantee:
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Sustainable actions and the landscape as natural regulator of the ecosystem; |
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The protection of the flora and fauna and their habitat, fundamental for the
protection of biodiversity; |
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Acknowledgment and protection of the cultural and social identities of the
residents; |
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Planning and monitoring of the territory; |
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Protection of primary resources such as water, air and soil; |
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Monitoring and the reduction of the areas at risk of hydro-geological instability; |
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Protection and compatible use of the traditional rural landscape; |
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Protection of ecosystems, landscapes and biodiversity. ; |
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Support and improvement of diffused tourism; |
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Improvement of cultural heritage, historical centres and worship areas; |
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Energy saving and environmental friendly ways of production and use of energy,
collection and treatment of waste; and, |
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Upgrading and improvement of the transport network in the most sensitive
areas. |
The Apennine Convention was presented at “Green Week” in Brussels and was
favourably considered as a model of sustainable development for mountain areas
and as a sustainable development model for other areas in the Balkans and in the
Mediterranean.
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