Nature protection and biodiversity - Outlook 2020 (Italy)

Some initiatives have been carried out over the last few years, and many actions have been taken at various levels  reaching and involving political decision makers, players and stakeholders in the common objective of defining a national strategy and thereby fulfil that required by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including beyond 2010.

Italian experience based on solid and independent scientific information on matters related to biodiversity has led to the acknowledgement that an integrated management of nature conservation and development needs is the key to a new approach to sustainability in which economic, biological and cultural diversity play an essential

role.

A post-2010 national strategy on biodiversity has been developed on this multi-disciplinary approach involving strong cooperation between political decision makers, administrations, agencies, the academic world and stakeholders.

In order to achieve these objectives, Italy has undertaken a direction in line with the federalism process under way, whereby regional councils are responsible for governing their territories and the state is responsible for Biodiversity.

The State-Region Conference is the institutional office in which the national biodiversity strategy has been definitely approved in October 2010 and officially presented during the First National Biodiversity Conference, an important opportunity to raise awareness of the year 2010, the World Biodiversity Year.

According to the horizontal nature of the topic, the national strategy has been structured into three main themes: biodiversity and ecosystem services, biodiversity and climate change and biodiversity and economic policies. There is a strong awareness of the fact that training, information, communication and sensitising public opinion are essential ways to involve local communities and all stakeholders in programmes and political actions. In order to implement virtuous mechanisms to involve all citizens and make them conscious participants in a national commitment to conserving biodiversity, a substantial part of the national strategy shall be based on including Biodiversity-related topics in wide-scale training, information and communication programmes.