Cooperation is Supporting Wilderness Conservation in Italy

by Vlado Vancura, European Wilderness Society: http://wilderness-society.org/cooperation-supporting-wilderness-conservation-italy/

The European Wilderness Society is partnering already for several months with the Association of Friends of National Park of Casentinesi Forests, Falterona Mountain and Campigna!

http://www.crinalidilegno.it/

The Association is a non-profit organization formed by volunteers who dedicate their free time to the protection and promotion of the natural environment of this unique “wild” territory. Here is a short introduction of this entity committed to support wilderness in central Italy:

Our role is to support the Park, both for practical activities and also for both naturalistic activities, such as environmental monitoring. The particularly important is ongoing wildlife monitoring (mapping, tracking and distribution).

Currently we are also engaged in collaboration with the Park and the University of Perugia on a study to investigate the presence, and areal distribution of small carnivores animals like wild cats and martens.

The rare Temporaria frog

Wolf monitoring in NP Casentinesi Forests

Important part of our work is monitoring of distribution, presence, and territory use of two wolves inside the park, using the technique of snow-tracking. We carry out this work since March 2014.

We also carry out together with the Park, and other associations, a thematic exhibition on the presence of the wolf in central Apennines (including the territories of the Casentino Forests). 

Wolf is dweller of the Casentino Forests already for decades and was present here in a small number. It is estimated that in 1970 they remained only 100 individuals of wolf - Canis Lupus Italicus. 

The situation slightly changed in the mid-eighties of the last century when wolf began the re-colonization of the new territories and started to expand to the north. This allowed the recovery of wolf population in the Alps and the south east of France!

We are very happy and honoured to be able to cooperate with the European Wildness Society and communicate uniqueness of our park

Through this Europe wide network, our intention is to establish a fruitful cooperation for the benefit of conservation of the European wilderness. We deeply believe that NP Casentino Forests has all attributes and quality to contribute to the European Wilderness Preservation System!