Bellezza Italia - Campomarino di Maruggio

Guardians of the Dunes of Campomarino

Redeveloping and accessing the Campomarino di Maruggio nature trail

In recent years Legambiente and the Unipol Group have added an important new project to the Bellezza Italia: addressing the climate emergency and safeguarding biodiversity campaign with the aim of restoring the beauty of compromised areas and making them safe to use again, helping them to become resilient and able to cope with extreme events.

Zones which thanks to these interventions have been restored to the general public, facilitating all possible synergies between civil society, businesses and institutions.

Despite its strategic role of mitigating the risk of erosion and reducing the effects of climate change, the coastal dune system is one of the most vulnerable and threatened ecosystems in Italy.

The coastal dune system of Campomarino di Maruggio (Taranto) is also extremely important in terms of the socioeconomic impact of the tourism it generates.

In order to reconcile environmental protection with sustainable tourism, it is necessary on one hand to protect and promote the beach-dune system and, on the other, to ensure the appropriate management, conservation and promotion of the shore and the nature trails. In fact, the dune systems are one of the most interesting natural environments from an ecological and landscape perspective but also one of the most critical ecosystems because they are subject to various natural and/or anthropic forms of stress and disturbance.

The project has made it possible to preserve and maintain the existing vegetation as well as to plant native plants in order to replenish the dune system. These actions supplement those carried out by the Municipality of Maruggio, which has installed wooden walkways and adopted anti-erosion measures.

The informational signage erected will familiarise visitors with the plant life at the site and underline the importance of the dune system and how we must all contribute to protecting the nature reserve.

The project will be presented on Monday 10 October in the nature reserve on the dunes of Campomarino di Maruggio.

The following will be in attendance:

• Giorgio Zampetti, General Manager of Legambiente
• Marisa Parmigiani, Unipol Group Sustainability Manager
• Alfredo Longo, Mayor of Maruggio
• Mariangela Chiego, Public Education Councillor of the Municipality of Maruggio
• Ruggero Ronzulli, Chairman Legambiente Puglia
• Daniela Salzedo, Director Legambiente Puglia
• Gianfranco Cipriani, Chairman Legambiente Maruggio