NEW YORK, MAY 8 – From the Aspromonte mountains to New York: a section of an oak tree trunk from the ancient forest of Valle Infernale managed by the Carabinieri Biodiversity Department of Reggio Calabria is one of the elements at the center of an exhibition at the UN headquarters scheduled from May 8 to 18. The Italian Carabinieri are internationally famous for the role in the protection of cultural heritage. The “Carabinieri-Italian Biodiversity Keepers” initiative aims to illustrate the important and complex commitment to the protection and conservation of nature carried out by the Command for Environmental, Forestry and Agro-food Units (CUFA) in view of the World Biodiversity Day, which is celebrated every year on May 22.
Valle Infernale is part of the State Forest of Alto Aspromonte. The tree, which died from natural causes in 2022, was 15 meters tall with a diameter of almost one meter. It was dated by the University of Tuscia in Viterbo by the dendrochronological method, confirming its age of 470 years: it was born at the time of the Peace of Cateau-Cambresis, which definitively established Spanish hegemony in Italy and Europe, and of the Council of Trent.
The installation was produced by the Carabinieri with 900 slats of beech/ash/oak/fir, plants that have reached the end of their life cycle due to natural causes. The company Micromegas produced 10 videos – three of which are interactive – for a total of 100 hours of material, with 29 explanatory printed panels. The carbon footprint of the event was calculated, and to neutralize the emissions, 6,000 plants will be planted that will absorb the same amount of CO2 produced in a year. Leonardo is also a partner of the initiative, to raise public awareness of the extraordinary biodiversity of the Italian territory and the need to preserve its integrity. The X-2030 solution has been included in the exhibition, which, using advanced technologies – artificial intelligence, cloud, supercomputing, deep learning algorithms, and video analytics – integrates existing applications by analyzing and cross-referencing an enormous amount of heterogeneous data from the field (land, sea, sky, space, and cyberspace), extracting relevant information and converting it into useful information to make the best decision and coordinate operations.
The multimedia path accompanies the visitor in a symbolic forest that represents the natural heritage to be preserved. The project is part of environmental diplomacy initiatives aimed at promoting Italy’s commitment to environmental protection, under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, with the coordination of the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, the participation of the Italian Air Force, and in collaboration with Leonardo and Telespazio.
The exhibition tells the work carried out in Italy in the field of nature protection and conservation, highlighting the commitment of the Institution through the CUFA, which inherited the 200 years of history of the State Forestry Corps, in the protection and conservation of biodiversity, through surveillance activities in the agro-forestry territory of the country, the fight against offenses related to forest fires, environmental damage, pollution and illegal waste management, illegal trade of protected plant and animal species, animal abuse, and management of 150 state nature reserves and demanial areas, as well as the surveillance of Italian national parks. It includes section dedicated to the Italian Air Force, which, together with the Meteorological Service, provides an essential contribution to the country and the national community for monitoring and predicting weather and climate conditions. (@alebal)
