Across the globe, populist governments with extractive policies have increasingly sought to defund protected natural areas, undermining the very spaces that safeguard biodiversity, fight climate change, and offer peaceful refuge to communities. Abruzzo is no exception.
These free and open reserves are not just landscapes; they are vital spaces of serenity where working families come together to reconnect with nature and one another. They offer calm, beauty, and breathing space in a world that’s often too fast and too loud. They are hubs of scientific research, providing in and outdoor learning for children and adults, inspiring spaces for workshops and cultural events. Yet now, the very institutions that celebrate Abruzzo’s “green heart” are quietly choking the lifeblood from it by slashing funding and support. Our Regional Natural Reserves are under threat, and mayors and those who work there have asked us not to be silent. Please sign the petition.
On the 5th July, WWF Abruzzo published the open letter below from Abruzzo’s mayors, which will be presented to the Regional Government on the 10th July. Please help share this letter and make some noise in support and to protect our reserves.
To those who govern our Region,
To the citizens of Abruzzo,
To those who still believe in the value of the common good,
We are women and men who care for extraordinary places every day. We work for Abruzzo’s Regional Nature Reserves: living spaces of biodiversity, education, territorial protection, and sustainable hospitality.
In recent months, we have continued our work with a deep sense of responsibility, despite serious uncertainty: we have maintained trails and visitor centres, welcomed schools and tourists, protected precious habitats, and guaranteed a constant presence on the territory.
We did this even after a 22% cut to regional funding and without any certainty regarding the disbursement of promised resources for 2025.
Now, with growing concern, we have learned of another funding cut being deliberated, without clarity on its scope or impact on individual Reserves.
This is a concrete and dangerous step, threatening to destabilise an already fragile system.
The crisis is no longer hypothetical: it is already happening. The Regional Nature Reserve of Lake Serranella has been forced to suspend all activities as of July 1, 2025.
Other Reserves face the same situation and risk shutting down at the height of the summer season.
We are facing an unsustainable paradox: on one hand, the Reserves are praised as models of green tourism and territorial regeneration; on the other, they are being stripped of the minimum resources needed to perform their essential functions.
Reserves are not ornamental spaces. They are active, strategic hubs where every public euro generates jobs, environmental protection, education, collective well-being, and local vitality.
We do not ask for privilege. We demand respect. We ask for certainty. We demand accountability.
Specifically, we ask that the Abruzzo Region:
• Urgently and officially communicate the amount and timing of funding for 2025;
• Restore, at a minimum, the 2024 funding levels, which were already reduced from previous years;
• Acknowledge that the daily work carried out in the Reserves is an essential public service, on par with other forms of territorial stewardship.
We speak with the voices of those who have loved and defended these places for years.
With the dignity of those who work in forests, visitor centres, along trails, in schools, wetlands, and on mountain peaks.
With the sense of responsibility of those who, despite everything, have never stopped showing up.
Signed:
- Lorenzo Berardinetti, Mayor of the Municipality of Sante Marie (AQ)
- Emiliano Bozzelli, Mayor of the Municipality of San Vito Chietino (CH)
- Antonio Carrara, Mayor of the Municipality of Pettorano sul Gizio (AQ)
- Roberto D’Amico, Mayor of the Municipality of Morino (AQ)
- Piergiorgio Ferretti, Mayor of the Municipality of Atri (TE)
- Francesco Menna, Mayor of the Municipality of Vasto (CH)
- Alessio Monaco, Mayor of the Municipality of Rosello (CH)
- Vincenzo Muratelli, Mayor of the Municipality of Altino (CH)
- Massimo Tiberini, Mayor of the Municipality of Casoli (CH)
- Raffaele Verratti, Mayor of the Municipality of Sant’Eusanio del Sangro (CH)
- Vincenzo Pace, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Anversa degli Abruzzi (AQ)
- Barbara Di Lauro, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Casoli (CH) and Head of the River Environmental Education Center
- Domenico Felicione, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Atri (TE)
- Gabriele Barisano, Councillor of the Municipality of Vasto (CH)
- Mario Giannantonio, City Councilor of Anversa degli Abruzzi (AQ) and Head of the Environmental Education Center Gole del Sagittario
- Cesare Baiocco, Director of the Castel Cerreto Regional Nature Reserve
- Adriano De Ascentiis, Director of the Regional Natural Reserve of the Calanchi di Atri
- Fernando Di Fabrizio, Director of the Penne Lake Regional Nature Reserve and President of the Cogecstre Cooperative
- Maria Carla de Francesco, Director of the Regional Natural Reserves of Punta Acquabella and Ripari di Giobbe
- Antonio Di Croce, Director of the Monte Genzana Regional Nature Reserve
- Sefora Inzaghi, Director of the Sagittario Gorges Regional Nature Reserve
- Andrea Rosario Natale, Acting Director of the Serranella Lake Regional Nature Reserve
- Mario Pellegrini, Director of the Regional Natural Reserves of the Rosello Fir Tree, the Torino di Sangro Holm Oak Forest and the Don Venanzio Forest
- Rita Rufo, Director of the Zompo Lo Schioppo Regional Nature Reserve
- Marta D’Amico, President of the Dendrocopos Cooperative, manager of services and facilities at the Zompo Lo Schioppo Regional Reserve – Morino (AQ)
- Mario Finocchi, President of the Cooperative Society “Valleluna” – Pettorano sul Gizio (AQ)
- Italino Iezzi, Owner NT Multiservice – Altino (CH)
- Piergiorgio Manco, President of Cul.Tur.A’ Association – Culture Tourism Environment Atri (TE)
- Cristian Moscone, President of the Cooperative “Il Bosso” – Bussi sul Tirino (PE)
- Paola Natale, President of the Terracoste Cooperative Society – Fossacesia (CH)
- Maria Laura Pierini, Head of the Terracoste Environmental Education Centre – Fossacesia (CH)
- Antonella Sardi, President of the L’Istrice Association – Atri (TE)
- Paolo Setta, President FederPATE Confesercenti Abruzzo
Author: Sam Dunham
Sam is a freelance SEO content creator and IGCSE Geography and English teacher at Istituto Cristo Re in Rome. She also runs the Life In Abruzzo Cultural Association, sharing stories and insights about this captivating region.
Alongside raising a teenager, Sam hosts guests at her family’s traditional home, the Little House of the Firefly in Abruzzo, offering a warm welcome and insider tips on local culture, food, and hidden gems.
