This still untouched slope of Monte Magnola, in the middle of the protected area, will soon be devastated by bulldozers.
On 6 March, in fact, the Council of State overturned the ruling of the Abruzzo Regional Administrative Tribunal that had rejected the new Ovindoli ski-lifts, within the Sirente Velino Regional Natural Park and even a European Union Special Protection Area, effectively certifying that the heritage of biodiversity is expendable on the altar of ski development, at a time of climate change and increasingly scarce snowfall.
What does this mean?
It means that we will soon be saying goodbye to more than 10 hectares of vegetation belonging to six EU-protected habitats, two of which are priority habitats. Not to mention the indirect impact on the surrounding areas.
Suffice it to think of the change in the flow regime of surface water, of the anthropic disturbance in an area that is currently virgin on important species such as the bear, which has recently begun to expand its area within the Sirente Velino Park; such as the chamois, the protagonist of a delicate reintroduction precisely in the areas that are now to be used for skiing; such as the Orsini viper, a very rare and protected species.
The reaction of Salviamo l’Orso was not long in coming
DONKEYS and PRESUMPTIVE we say in Abruzzo
The president of Monte Magnola Impianti, Giancarlo Bartolotti, reduces the Valle delle Lenzuola, which is a protected area at Community level, the habitat of rare and delicate species, to ‘an area where there are only stony ground, at an altitude of 2,000 metres, where the zero temperatures and snow certainly arrive sooner and are also longer lasting’. He says this in an interview with IL CAPOLUOGO D’ABRUZZO
We think, instead, that in Abruzzo we are selling off, for the self-interest of a few private individuals and strong powers from outside the region, the most precious heritage we have: nature.
Three new lifts with four-seater chairlifts and seven new slopes will extend the Rocche ski resort with bulldozers, thus wiping out any form of animal and plant life.
The new facilities will indeed be built at high altitude, but in an area where snow is only seen for short periods and often in insufficient quantities for skiing, hence the need to resort to expensive artificial snow-making systems.
The first of the three planned interventions will be carried out by the end of 2023, wiping out years of legal battles for the protection of one of the few still pristine areas in our mountains.
We wonder how anyone can claim to have ‘the demands of the mountains’ at heart for years – Bartolotti’s words – without having any interest or knowledge in protecting the mountain environment. No one seems to care about this arrogance. Just as those who defend the wickedness of entrepreneurial choices financed with public funds, with little foresight and illusory employment effects, are not concerned about the tampering with an ecological and economic balance on which the health of a territory, water, air and consequently of the people themselves depend. Those same people who, instead of rebelling, keep silent.