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December 2018

Editorial

A Time to be Better

by LIPU President, Fulvio Mamone Capria

Dear members,

Torrential rain, violent gusts of wind, hydrological disorders, climate change – nature’s way of coping with our attacks on it, putting safety everywhere at risk now and for the foreseeable future. We must redress the balance. LIPU and the great BirdLife International family know what to do: bring those people with scientific knowledge and a strength of conviction, those who have global and local-level decision-making powers together so that they can convince industrialised countries to bring an end to this terrible nightmare, which is afflicting the whole planet.

We lament the human victims, we watch pictures of destroyed forests, and feel for the thousands of animals overwhelmed by calamity. How should we respond? We need to care for the land, practise biological engineering, respect agronomist techniques. We need to understand how intervention affects ecology, so that the management of rivers, woods and wet areas can be conducted correctly without devastating the banks of rivers or vegetation. We should be acting in the same way as urban ecological experts like our Marco Dinetti try to do, respecting ourselves and nature (with regard to this, read the opening article by our Director General on the beautiful theme of trees).

Autumn has become the time when a huge number of protected birds, including rare raptors, are killed as the hunting season opens. I can see two contrasting images: the Egyptian vulture brought down in Sicily by a cowardly hunter’s pellets, and Greta and Stefania’s smiles as they explain in a video why they had chosen to become LIPU volunteers. The two opposites, good and bad, killing nature and battling to defend it. We have chosen the side of the just, those who respect life and hope. Others choose illegality and violence. And against the latter, LIPU offers a suggestion supported by a great petition: an environmental ‘Daspo’ (a Daspo is an Italian law prohibiting violence at sporting events). It is an innovative proposal, which – if approved – could change the situation of illegal hunting in Italy. You can help with this by supporting the petition. It’s essential.

But help and support LIPU in general too. We have done great things in 2018. We want to do even more in 2019, especially as the elections next spring represent a fundamental opportunity to renew our organisation. We are asking members and volunteers to participate fully in the official election through our website (www.lipu.it).

Meanwhile it’s time for festivities. Time to take to the streets for Christmas with LIPU and its special ‘parcels’, to give to friends and relatives. Time for loading up the bird feeders with breadcrumbs, seeds and fruit, because our little friends are hungry. Time for being better in reality and not just in words. There’s always time to become better. It’s never too late.

Happy Christmas and Happy New Year 2019, from nature, from life, from joy, from LIPU. With all our hearts.

Contents

  • The Spirit of the Trees
  • Invasion or Irruption?
  • Alpine birds under threat
  • A visit to Oasi Carloforte

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