The agreement provides for a mutual commitment for the next 3 years aimed at raising awareness, protecting and enhancing the marine environment through information campaigns aimed at citizens, companies and institutions, and with the start of potential collaborations in scientific research projects and monitoring of the sea.
WWF and Marina Militare intend to spread the intrinsic environmental, cultural and economic value of a "quality", protected and respected Mediterranean sea.
The protection of the Mediterranean cannot be separated from a thorough knowledge of the problems of the sea and from a disclosure of the value of the acquired knowledge: if the Mediterranean is known it becomes a value and therefore there is the will to protect it.
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"In about 50 years of WWF action, along with many realities committed to protecting the sea, we have achieved a system of protected marine areas, we have averted the collapse of bluefin tuna, we have made citizens aware of sustainable consumption of fish and fish resources , but the open challenges are still many, from illegal fishing, to the spectrum of drilling, to microplastics that threaten the health of the sea as much as the balance, including social and economic ones, that depend on it - said Donatella Bianchi, president of WWF Italy - Only with strong allies, at all levels of society, can we truly achieve a Mediterranean of Quality. "
The Panda, therefore, once again wears a sailor's cap: the collaboration between the Navy and the WWF can be considered historical. The two organizations have in fact started theirs as in the 1978 the WWF Campaign "The sea must live" crossed the Mediterranean on the Amerigo Vespucci training ship made available by the Navy. At that time a limited edition of special stamps was also produced.
A new edition of "Il Mare must Live" was relaunched, in the 2013 and 2014, at 35 years of historical collaboration, with awareness-raising activities in the main Italian ports on board the school ships Amerigo Vespucci and Palinuro. This year, moreover, the Navy has joined for the first time at the global WWF climate event, Earth Hour, symbolically turning off various port areas and buildings.
From the 1978 the WWF has achieved important concrete results for our sea: from the historic hunting bans for cetaceans and seabirds, to the efficiency of national marine protected areas and to the avoidance of the collapse of bluefin tuna.
The historic collaboration with the WWF shows how the Navy has always had a strong attention and sensitivity towards environmental issues and the spread of a marine education aimed at respecting and enhancing the sea as an important resource for a peninsular country such as 'Italy.
This sensitivity is confirmed by the significant contribution that the Navy makes to monitoring the health of the sea, protecting the marine environment and preventing pollution, also with the "Green Fleet" project which aims to reduce employment of naval fuel of fossil origin on board naval units - with consequent reduction of harmful gas emissions - through the use of alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas and biofuels.
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Source: Military Navy
