Excerpt from the press release of the Association 394 – National association of the protected areas staff
It was held yesterday, October 25, with no less than 200 participants, in a peaceful and colorful way the demonstration staged by the staff of National Parks in front of the Ministry of the Environment. The people came from all over Italy to ask the Minister to makes all possible efforts to avoid further damaging cuts in staff and the park authorities, affected only in 2012 by two reductions of 10% each, which were added to other reductions in previous years.
The demonstrators came from many National Parks of Italy (Val Grande, Gran Paradiso, the Belluno Dolomites, Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the Casentino Forests, Monti Sibillini and Gran Sasso – Laga, Majella, Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, Circeo, Vesuvius, Gargano, Alta Murgia, Maddalena Islands).
A delegation of the National Park staff was received by the representatives of the Ministry, in the persons of Fabrizio Penna, head of the secretariat of the Minister, and Renato Grimaldi, Director General of the Directorate for the Protection of Nature, and submitted them a document whereon the reasons of the demonstration were reported. Those representatives assured the love of the Minister for the National Parks.
It does not seem, however, and despite these efforts, that there is any hope. Regulatory intervention on the agenda seem to be directed at resolving other issues, such as compensation of Presidents, the number of members of the Boards of Directors and the supervision method of the Ministry of the Environment on the management authorities.