After a challenging process of listening and planning shared with local communities, the procedure for the nomination of Torre Guaceto and the municipalities of Brindisi, Carovigno, Mesagne and San Vito dei Normanni as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is formally launched.
The institutional representatives of the five entities have just signed the official adhesion to the path that within a year will lead the protected area of Torre Guaceto and the municipalities connected to it by the theme of water to present themselves to the UNESCO commission in Paris, asking that the territory be recognized as a biosphere reserve. Thus the first phase of the process carried out with the contribution of the “Puglia partecipates” program of the Puglia Region was concluded, which on the one hand saw the municipal administrations approve the network proposal of the Torre Guaceto Management Consortium by means of a resolution of Giunta, on the other hand, engaged the four communities in meetings to discuss and draft the project which will dictate the guidelines for the sustainable development of the territory.
There are 13 events organized by the Consortium in the last few weeks in the four municipalities, 171 citizens who responded to the invitation and joined the participatory planning, 57 economic operators, 30 third sector bodies, 539 students met in schools.
Now, having formalized the participation of the five entities in the application process, the technical-scientific committee which, for some months now, has been at work in constant dialogue with the Ministry of the Environment, the point of reference for the UNESCO apparatus in Italy, will continue in the long term path aimed at presenting the application dossier. “Today our commitment to the Torre Guaceto Biosphere Reserve is consolidated – declared the president of the Management Consortium of the protected area, Rocky Malatesta -, now we will move on to the planning phase with the representatives of the socio-economic assets of the territory. Our goal is to increase the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the entire district and support it through UNESCO recognition, a great driving force for ethical tourism assigned to areas that manage to achieve the perfect balance between nature protection and the development of anthropic activities. I thank the communities of Torre Guaceto and the mayor of Brindisi, Giuseppe Marchionna, of Carovigno, Massimo Lanzilotti, of Mesagne, Toni Matarrelli, and of San Vito, Silvana Errico, for having believed in our dream right from the start and who will now work on our side for the common good.”
 – The process for the candidacy of Torre Guaceto as a UNESCO biosphere reserve officially begins – PugliaLive – Online information newspaper){kind=link}