Italy: Next years environmental wish list

The past year has brought neither happiness nor serenity to Italy?s environment. Bears have been shot dead, the waste disposal emergency in the Campania region, fires blazing across the nation, one hundred thousand hectares of good land invaded by cement and tarmac in just one year and no real steps have been made towards meeting the goals set in Kyoto.

But we environmentalists like to dream. And here is our wish list for next years newspaper headlines.

January
Handcuffs for a gang of poachers: bears, wolves and vultures will now be safe, thanks to WWF guards and State Forest Rangers who caught the criminals on mountains in Abruzzo and Lazio.

February
The government takes consumption and pollution by the horns. Incandescent light
bulbs, ovens, stoves and electric boilers are all banned for severely wasting energy.

March
Revolution in the world of transport. The Parliament retraces its steps and blocks highway construction again. An impressive programme to re-launch railways, especially in the South, has been drawn up in order to limit CO2 emissions in just a few years.

April
Large investments into water networks in Sicily are giving their first results. The Prime Minister has inaugurated a restored water main that will guarantee generous flows to dozens of Municipalities that until today suffered chronic scarcity of water.

May
Today is a big day for environmentalists. A secret breeding place for rare Mediterranean monk seals has been discovered in Sardinia and their numbers are steadily rising. Same joy for the first nesting of the fish hawk in Tuscany?s national Maremma Park. WWF?s Oasis Day is sold out.

June
Underwater fishing is put under control. Fishermen will have to have a fishing licence to deep-sea hunt with a rifle.

July
Environmental associations have joined forces to control fires and defend the woods. Thousands of volunteers armed with binoculars and radios are patrolling the coasts and mountains.

August
Alpine regions, from Liguria to Friuli Venezia Giulia, have issued a ban on hunting for three species that are particularly affected by global warming: snow grouse, mountain hare and capercaillie.

September
Irrigation water placed under strict control. A close examination of agricultural productions has finally brought to rationalization.

October
Political parties have all agreed together with the Chamber of deputies and the Senate: a law to limit non urban construction has been approved. Degradation that last year destroyed more than 100 thousand hectares of agricultural and natural lands has been halted.

November
With laws and the cooperation of provinces, Municipalities and the general public the waste problem in Campania is coming to an end. Key words: fewer containers, recycling and composting.

December
The increasing price of petrol has led to a severe crisis in the car industry. Car manufacturers are closing all over the world. Bicycle sales are booming.