For the first time a tr phototo the 969 photographic works dedicated to Italian protected areas – which participated in the “Obiettivo Terra” 2024 geographical-environmental photography competitionpromoted by the UniVerde Foundation and the Italian Geographical Society – it was taken at the Saline di Trapani and Paceco and was the winner of a “special mention”. The Management Body of the Reserve was present at the award ceremony, among the 12 Italian protected areas, including national and regional parks, marine protected areas and state and regional reserves invited by the UniVerde Foundation to the awards ceremony which was held on Monday 22 April in Rome in Palazzo Valentini as part of the 15th edition of the national competition. The photographic contest dedicated to the defence, valorisation and promotion of the peculiar environmental heritage of the protected areas of Italy concluded with the award ceremony of the 12 photographic shots, on the occasion of the 55th World Mother Earth Day.
The initiative was promoted by the UniVerde Foundation, chaired by Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, former Minister of the Environment with the Italian Geographical Society, to tell the value of protecting biodiversity through photography. The winner of the first prize is Brigida Viggiano with the evocative photo of a threatening storm, emblem of the extreme phenomena caused by the climate crisis, taken on the coast of the Bosco Pantano oriented nature reserve in Policoro (Basilicata); the 2024 “Inclusive Park” award for accessibility and usability for people with disabilities and reduced mobility goes to the Marine Protected Area and Nature Reserve of the State of Torre Guaceto (Puglia).
Among the important prizes awarded to the winners, 11 Mentions and Special Mentions were awarded and among these to Tiago Marques, a young Portuguese with a shot that portrays the magnificent play of lights and colors in the tanks of the Saline Oriented Nature Reserve of Trapani and Paceco managed from WWF Italy. The director of the protected area, Silvana Piacentino, rewarding the author, spoke about the importance of the regional reserve and, commenting on the photo, recalled how the protection of biodiversity involves raising awareness and respecting the value of all the different environmental components, among these, less conspicuous life forms, such as microorganisms, are also of great importance.
These life forms, lovers of halophilic waters, are the main responsible for the play of colors and reflections of the salt waters. The tiles colored between white and pink represent characterizing elements of the Trapani territory preserved within the protected site, where the production of white sea salt meets the protection of biodiversity. The color pink is the common thread of this delicate ecosystem where every piece finds its place and where everything is connected and interdependent. In the salt pans lives the microscopic unicellular algae “Dunaliella salina” responsible for the pink color of the water, but it is also the food of the “Artemia salina”, the small shrimp that the Flamingo feeds on; thanks to the transfer, through the food chain, of the pink pigment produced by the microscopic algae, you can admire the presence of the elegant pink flamingos inside the tanks.
The contest dedicated to protected areas is a tribute to the biodiversity and intrinsic beauty of Italian natural areas, from reserves to national parks, has the aim of raising awareness of the need to protect our natural resources using photography as a very powerful tool for dissemination and awareness. The winning photos of the contest will be associated with the months of the 2025 calendar and will be reported in the publication dedicated to the 15th edition of “Obiettivo Terra”. Speakers included, among others, the Minister of the Environment Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi, the President of ENIT Alessandra Priante, the ADMIRAL IC (CP) Nicola Carlone General Commander of the Port Authority Corps – Coast Guard, Gen. CA Andrea Rispoli Commander of the Forestry, Environmental and Agri-food units of the Carabinieri.
