Approximately 70% of the surface of Sicily, hit this year by a dramatic drought, presents a medium-high degree of environmental vulnerability and risks desertification. The Anbi Observatory on Water Resources writes this on the occasion of the World Day against Desertification and Drought, which is celebrated today.
Followed by Molise (58%), Puglia (57%), Basilicata (55%). Six regions (Sardinia, Marche, Emilia Romagna, Umbria, Abruzzo and Campania) have a percentage of territory at risk of desertification, between 30% and 50%, while another 7 (Calabria, Tuscany, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Lombardy , Veneto and Piedmont) are between 10% and 25%.
For Massimo Gargano, general director of Anbi, “in Italy, extraordinary droughts are repeating themselves year after year, alternating along the entire peninsula with heavy repercussions on ecosystems and food production. Despite recent greater attention from politicians, we remain in waiting for fundamental interventions such as the financing of the Invasion Plan, proposed by Anbi and Coldiretti, as well as the approval of the law against indiscriminate land consumption, lost in the parliamentary maze for over a decade”.
“It is clear that in this situation, without having completed the necessary checks, a generalized application of the more stringent water parameters, provided for by the European legislation on Ecological Runoff, could have disastrous consequences for the economy and the environment of large areas of the country Hence the request for postponement, which we have already made in parliament” underlines Francesco Vincenzi, president of the Anbi.
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