In spite of the cold, during the weekend of the 17-18th November, our hardworking volunteers carried out the removal of barbed wire in Macchia di Rose, in the municipal territory of Villalago. 2,100m of landscape has been freed from 6,300m of wire. Only a few wooden posts have been left standing on the mountain ridges to provide the protected shrikes with perches, following the advice of the new chairman of SOA, Mr. Massimo Pellegrini, who joined the activity. Since the beginning of this initiative, which is part of the project “Let’s take action for the bear”, 8,764m of barbed and smooth wire, equal to 4,400m of fence, have been permanently removed from the mountains between Villalago, Bisegna, Anversa degli Abruzzi and Ortona dei Marsi.
We are committed to continue this action next spring, as we cannot stand for wildlife being threatened by barbed wire as this video by Fabrizio Caputi shows. We are aware that we need years to free our mountains, but the network created with environmental organizations – WWF Abruzzo, Ambiente e/è Vita, Rewilding Apennines and SOA – local institutions – the municipalities of Villalago and Anversa degli Abruzzi, the Nature Reserves Gole del Sagittario and Lago di San Domenico e Lago Pio – and enterprises like Wildlife Adventures make us more positive. Many thanks to all participants, partners and to EOCA for their sponsorship.