Benevento
In recent months, a partnership has been consolidated between the Italian Center for River Redevelopment (CIRF), the Benevento Section of Lipu and WWF Sannio as part of a project to study the potential for redevelopment of the Calore Beneventano financed by the European Open Rivers program (www .openrivers.eu). This led the CIRF to organize its annual assembly which celebrated the 25th anniversary of its foundation in Benevento, guests of Lipu at the Visitor Center of the “Zone Umide Beneventane” protection oasis.
On Friday 14 June, the CIRF organized a technical seminar entitled “The integrated management of rivers in times of climate change”, at the Volunteer Services Center (CSV), with interventions by Giovanni Braca of the Higher Institute for the Protection and the Environmental Research (ISPRA) which presented the national hydrological balance, the director of the CIRF Andrea Goltara spoke about the ecological flows downstream of dams and diversions, the President Giuliano Trentini presented the possibility of reducing the flood risk by restoring river ecosystems, Maria Nicolina Papa, professor at the DICIV of the University of Salerno and CIRF advisor, presented the study on the Calore River developed under her guidance by the students of the River Restoration course of the master’s degree in Sustainable Management of Risks and Natural Resources of the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Salerno.
On the afternoon of Saturday 15 June, after the assembly, the CIRF members explored various significant places in Calore, from Benevento to Taurasi.
The President of CIRF, Eng. Giuliano Trentini, declares: “The Calore is a river strongly altered by the excavation of sediments of past decades and with serious water quality problems. With the serious ecosystem and climate crisis in which we find ourselves, as countless European experiences now show, from Spain to Germany, the defense against floods can no longer be pursued further by damaging the river ecosystem, as we are seeing done on Heat, we must instead work in harmony with nature, giving back space to the river, restoring sediment flows and ecosystem functions, because only a river in morphological and ecosystemic balance will be able to ensure water in sufficient quantity and quality and at the same time mitigate the danger of the floods with which it is inevitable having to live with it. The so-called “safety system” has never existed and will never exist, and it is time that technicians and administrators began to be clear and clear about this and stopped deceiving citizens.”
The Provincial Delegate of Lipu, arch., also intervenes in this regard. Marcello Stefanucci: “The Lipu of Benevento has been committed to the protection and valorisation of the rivers of the Sannio Beneventano for over two decades. We are honored to have hosted the national assembly of CIRF members this year at the Visitor Center of the “Zone Umide Beneventane” Oasis, a structure that LIPU manages on behalf of the Province of Benevento. We used the opportunity to show our guests particularly interesting places in the Oasis such as the Serretelle riparian forest which represents the habitat for numerous species and is precious for the continuity of the ecological corridor along the Calore river. The important thing is that a collaborative relationship has been created with the CIRF to carry forward the idea, which we have supported for some time, that hydraulic safety can be combined with the protection of biodiversity for the good of the people who live in risk areas. flood and the naturalness of the Benevento rivers.”
