In a land described only by Gomorrah, the volunteers surveyed 17 nests of caretta caretta on the Domizio coast. About ten near the mouth of the Regi Lagni, one of the most polluted watercourses in Italy
«The mouth of the Regi Lagni, a canal in the province of Caserta, is one of the most polluted stretches of sea in Italy. This is attested by the analysis of the water of Goletta Verde by Legambiente. But right here this year we have documented more than ten sea turtle nests caretta caretta, a few hundred meters from the mouth. It is a symbol of the resilience of nature that does not want to give in to the Camorra in a place on the edge of reality ». Francesco Pascale, of the board of Legambiente Campania, says it with pride. It is nature that takes its revenge on man-made disasters. For just over a month, volunteers and various local associations have given birth to Domitia, a network that wants to go beyond the recovery of turtles, but which has ambitious programs of social promotion in an area unfortunately more famous for the Camorra than for the ‘environment.
From 5 in the morning
«Despite all the bad news of the Domitian coast, there are naturalistic realities of value. About forty volunteers, coordinated by researchers from the Anton Dorhn Zoological Station in Naples, walk the 27 kilometers of beach from 6 to 8 in the morning in search of traces of turtles, which return to the place where they were born to lay their eggs “, continues Pascale . For the second consecutive year there has been a boom in nesting on Italian beaches: about 500, of which 17 only on the Domizio coast, a place where in the last 20 years there had been only four certified nestings, reports the Tartawatch initiative of Legambiente. «The poor care of the beaches, even the bathing establishments not used to these things, had contributed to not recognizing the signs of the nests. Now there is more awareness and protection ». Many young people arrived attracted by the turtles, a symbol of the new environmental awareness but also of the desire to demonstrate that Castelvolturno cannot and must not be identified only with delinquency. “This is what makes us hope for the future,” says Pascale.
A volunteer speaks
“The volunteers also had great help from the citizens,” says volunteer Leda Tonziello. “Sometimes it is the people on the beach who call us to report the nests and tracks of the turtles.” Legambiente has also launched the new SOS Tartarughe service to collect reports of traces or baby turtles on the Italian coasts by sending a WhatsApp message or an SMS to the number 3492100989. «I saw the light in the eyes of people with disabilities who wanted to be involved in this project, the centers that asked us to organize tours on nurseries to bring the most fragile children to get to know this world. We want to bring our experience to schools too, ”explains the volunteer, who is a high school teacher by trade.
“Here is hope”
“This year we have already found thirty beached and dead adult turtles.” says Vincenzo Ammaliato. “If there were dead specimens, it occurred to us that there were probably also live ones that nested. I asked everyone to coordinate efforts to find them and we were successful. We now camp at night on the beach to protect the hatching of the eggs, which occurs 50 days after spawning. We have sensors that warn of movements and 4-5 days before we check that everything is going well. We must not lose even a little. In Domitia there are people of all kinds: from young to old, from environmentalists to communication experts like me, ”says Ammaliato. “Everyone steals some time from their work, from their families. For us these turtles have an important symbolic aspect, which goes beyond the naturalistic one. We see it as a rebirth of the territory and of us inhabitants of these areas. We want to be ambitious, we want to remove the “slime” that we have deposited on this territory in the last 50 years to discover what is good underneath: in Castelvolturno, considered the black hole of Italy, told only by Gomorra, instead there is it is hope ».
August 22, 2021 (change August 22, 2021 | 07:22)
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