Our country is a leader in biodiversity in Europe with over 58,000 faunal species and 6,700 plant species, of which respectively 30% and 15% live practically only on our national territory, a naturalistic, environmental, cultural and economic heritage to be protected with respect to the dangers that come from the effects of climate change, from land consumption, but also from the standardization of production at an international level. This is what Coldiretti Cuneo claims, analyzing CBD data on the occasion of World Biodiversity Day which is celebrated today, 22 May.
Farmers, as true custodians of the territory – underlines Coldiretti Cuneo – play a crucial role in the sustainable management of natural resources and represent a barrier to the loss of plant and animal species, i.e. the loss of biodiversity, an expression of the variety and richness of our lands.
“In addition to having a naturalistic value, the defense of biodiversity is the true added value of agricultural production made in Cuneo and made in Italy. Investing in distinctiveness is a necessary condition for agricultural businesses to stand out in terms of production quality and thus face the globalized market by defending and creating local economic systems around the value of food” declares the President of Coldiretti Cuneo, Enrico Nada.
“An important biodiversity recovery action is due to the new commercial outlets created by the farmers’ markets and Campagna Amica farms active in our territory, which offer economic opportunities to breeders and growers of varieties and breeds at risk of extinction, which otherwise they would never have survived the rules of current commercial distribution systems which favor large quantities and the standardization of the offer” highlights the Director of Coldiretti Cuneo, Fabiano Porcu.
An action formalized with the products present in the list of “Seals” of Campagna Amica which – underlines Coldiretti – are the largest work of valorisation of peasant biodiversity ever carried out in Italy which can be supported directly by citizens in zero kilometer markets of farmers and in company sales points. The “Seals” recognized in the Province of Cuneo are: garlic from Caraglio, lamb from Sambucano, round apricot from Costigliole, bruss, capon from Morozzo, snail from Cherasco, apple from the Bronda valley, nostrale d’Alpe, Madernassa pear, sheep from Garessina and ramassin .
