The activity of the LIFE A-MAR NATURA2000 project took place

on the occasion of the European Parks Day.

Three high level experiences  in small-scale artisanal fishing, sustainable tourism and environmental education activities in marine sites were awarded by Federparchi as part of the “Good practices for marine sites NATURA2000” competition, an activity that is part of the LIFE A -MAR NATURA2000 – LIFE20 GIE/IT/001352 – project aimed at enhancing the “Good Practices” that promote sustainable management of fish resources, sustainable tourism and environmental education within Natura 2000 sites.

The awards ceremony took place online on 24 May, on the European Parks Day. The “Good Practices Stakeholders” event was introduced  by Maria Villani, from Federparchi, project manager, who illustrated Life A-MAR, presented the competition participation data, the selection criteria and the main results. This was followed by Angelo Petruzzella and Andrea Poggi illustrating the candidate good practices and Eraldo Rambaldi who talked about the three awarded good practices and presentation of the awards.

28 companies participated in the competition (562 people involved), of which 14 were Marine Protected Areas, 13 sustainable tourism companies and 15 environmental enterprises of educational activities. The project Steering Committee decided to reward the following italian companies:

For sustainable artisanal fishing based on sustainable management criteria of fish resources, the prize, a set of technical fishing clothing, went to the “vivere il mare” cooperative of Porto Cesareo (Le). For touristic activities oriented towards forms of sustainable tourism towards the territory and marine sites, the prize six HQ marine technical binoculars  went to the “Pesca Pontillo” Cooperative of Scilla (Rc). For environmental education activities, the corresponding prize, an underwater drone with camera, went to “Ischia Savage” by Migliaccio Alessandro, Forio (Na).

Maria VILLANI focused on the value and importance of the marine sites of the NATURA2000 Network  and illustrated the purpose of the competition aimed at enhancing the sustainable activities and good practices that exist there. Angelo PETRUZZELLA,  Consorzio Mediterraneo scrl and member of the Technical Scientific Committee of Federparchi, focused on describing the characteristics of artisanal fishing businesses, identifying, in particular, the types of boats and the various fishing tools – starting from the nets. Andrea POGGI, biologist, Consorzio Mediterraneo scrl, identified some characteristic elements of good sustainable fishing practices, such as “fishing stops” and the use of technological tools to avoid the capture of protected species. Eraldo RAMBALDI, president of Consorzio Mediterraneo scrl, underlined the dialogue with all the participants and focused on the criteria for identifying the winners and described their activities of excellence

During the awards ceremony, all participants spoke, expressing satisfaction both with the competition and with the possibility of sharing their experiences. In 2025 there will be a second call for competition.