ENGREEN - The events organized for the World Wetlands Day on February 2nd

The project entitled "Strengthening green infrastructures in the Italy-Slovenia cross-border environment", acronym ENGREEN, aims to underline the importance of the protection and restoration of different types of wetlands and the restoration of these extremely vulnerable ecosystems, which represent a treasure trove of biodiversity.

To celebrate the World Wetlands Day, the project partners organized several public-facing initiatives, which met with great success. The Venetian partner VeGAL of Portogruaro has developed a two-day program of appointments, Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 February, between training and dissemination, with two educational events dedicated to strategies and practices for the management and enhancement of green infrastructures, and a meeting open to the public on the topic of climate change.

The first training day took place on Tuesday 1 February at Tenuta Planitia and had the Lison wood as its protagonist, while the second covered the Caorle Lagoon, which the participants explored by bicycle and boat, with a stop also at the National Museum of Sea Archeology. After spending the morning in the field, on both days the participants then gathered in the classroom to discuss the critical issues encountered, with the aim of identifying improvement and conservation measures for the active protection of the observed natural environments.

The final event of the two days of appointments was instead entrusted to Luca Mercalli, President of the Italian Meteorological Society, climatologist and journalist, who held a scientific dissemination meeting entitled "Wetlands and global warming. Fragility and adaptation strategies" in the Ca 'Corniani Farm in Caorle. The meeting, followed by about a hundred participants, was a really interesting lesson on the actions to be taken before reaching the point of no return, not only globally, but also in the daily life of each person.

Lead partner Park Škocjanske jame / Škocjan Caves Park, Slovenia, organized a morning dedicated to visiting the Škocjan Caves and the restored Matavun pond on Saturday 5th February. Representatives of local communities present in the park area - who have or will help in the future with the inventory of ponds and water basins in the park - were invited to visit one of the longest underground karst wetlands in Europe. By visiting the restored Matavun pond, the organizers wanted to stimulate the will of the inhabitants for the conservation and restoration of the reservoirs.