The presentation of the Park Authority’s projects underway in different parts of the Po Delta Park in Emilia-Romagna made it possible to share critical issues and possible solutions to identify a shared strategy, to be implemented by applying Natural Based Solutions. The strategy implemented with the projects will be applied by the Park in its ordinary territorial management and in the evaluation of projects to be implemented within the protected area. The meeting was attended by over 30 participants including local administrators, local associations, tourism operators, NGOs, national, regional and provincial institutions and citizens. During the proceedings, which opened with a greeting from Park President Aida Morelli and were coordinated by Director Massimiliano Costa, cinque of the current projects were presented:
- Por Fesr RECORE project
- Interreg Central Europe INACO Project
- Interreg Italy-Croatia Action project
- Horizon 2020 Land4Climate project
- LIFE NatuReef project
To conclude, the synthesis on Natural Based Solutions in coastal and river environments was illustrated through the presentation of the Park’s point of view entrusted to Massimiliano Costa, director of the Emilia-Romagna Po Delta Regional Park.
The strategic objective of the projects is to share good practices for the application of NBS and their dissemination. The coastal area and the territories that develop along the watercourses and around the Park’s wetlands present, perhaps more than others, fragility and direct exposure to climate change that, by altering the hydrographic balance, lead to safety problems for the inhabitants and related human activities. The technical meeting represented an operational opportunity to share differentiated and sustainable intervention strategies that can be effectively applied in the most diverse contexts, but also a strong public awareness-raising activity on the issue of Natural Based Solutions implementation.
The exchange of information has once again confirmed the usefulness of creating a network of operators who, in various capacities, are engaged both nationally and at European level to identify sustainable solutions aimed at making territories, and in particular protected natural areas, resilient to climate change, which already today imposes a change of pace in the management strategy of fragile territories but of very high social and economic environmental value.