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LIFE Country Overview Italy 2021

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LIFE Country Overview Italy 2021 Italy Overview This document provides an overview of LIFE in Italy. It showcases key data and some of the latest LIFE projects. You will also find contact details and other useful resources and a full list of current and recently-finished LIFE projects. Every year calls for project proposals are launched covering the LIFE programme’s priority areas. ABOUT LIFE The LIFE programme is the EU's funding instrument for the environment and climate action. It has been running since 1992 and has co-financed more than 5 400 projects across the EU and in third countries, mobilising over €12 billion and contributing more than €5.64 billion to the protection of the environment and climate. Types of LIFE project: Other types of LIFE funding: Traditional (Environment and Resource Efficiency; Nature NGO operating grants and Biodiversity; Environmental Governance and Natural Capital Financing Facility (NCFF) Information; Climate Change Mitigation; Climate Change Private Finance for Energy Efficiency (PF4EE) Adaptation; Climate Governance and Information). Integrated (Environment, Nature or Climate Action) NCFF and PF4EE are joint initiatives with the European Preparatory Investment Bank, which manages the two funds. Capacity-building For more information visit: https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life_en Last update: 28/05/21 European Commission/CINEA (https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life_en) – Page 1 – LIFE Environment and Resource Efficiency This LIFE priority area is aimed at developing, testing and demonstrating best practices, solutions and integrated approaches to environmental challenges, as well as improving the related knowledge base. To date, the LIFE Environment and Resource Efficiency strand (formerly the LIFE Environment Policy and Governance component) has co-financed 530 projects in Italy, representing a total investment of €964 million, of which €415 million has been provided by the EU. Completed projects mainly targeted areas such as: cleaner technologies (e.g. in the tanning and digital printing sectors); integrated environmental management (EMAS, the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme); urban design; mobility (notably in historic towns) and transport; air quality; water quality, supply and scarcity; eco-friendly products and eco-product design (notably in the shoe sector); site rehabilitation; industrial and hazardous waste; waste recycling; sustainable tourism; risk assessment/management (e.g. in the field of healthcare); renewables energies; packaging and plastic waste; agricultural waste; eco-labelling; the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation/mitigation to climate change; landfilling; environmental accounting; wastewater treatment; energy saving and efficiency; river basin management; sensitive area management (marine litter and prevention of sea pollution in coastal areas); chemicals; sustainable building; biomonitoring; forest management; green public procurement; and soil management/protection (in the viticulture sector). Local and regional authorities, SMEs, research institutions and public enterprises were the main beneficiaries, which also included universities, NGOs, development agencies, parks, large and international enterprises, and professional organisations. The duration of the projects ranged from 12 to 60 months, with an average of 24 to 48 months. There are 58 ongoing projects in Italy under this strand. These cover a wide range of issues, with the main ones being: waste recycling/reduction/use; agricultural waste, transport planning; wastewater treatment; risk assessment and monitoring; air quality management and noise abatement; water quality improvement/scarcity and wastewater treatment; life-cycle assessment; forest management; soil management/protection; human health protection; marine and coastal management; site rehabilitation; natural risks; chemicals; circular economy (in dairy, food, textile and leather industries); and human health protection (hazardous chemicals). The main beneficiaries are research institutes, SMEs, local and regional authorities, universities, international and large enterprises, and development agencies. The duration of the projects is expected to be on average around 40 months. Presented in the box below is an example of a successful LIFE Environment project in Italy. SMART WATER AND SOIL SALINITY MANAGEMENT IN AGRO- WETLANDS (LIFE AGROWETLANDS II) LIFE15 ENV/IT/000423 The LIFE AGROWETLANDS II project devised a decision support system (DSS), based on a prediction model (AquaCrop) developed by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, with the aim of providing recommendations for irrigation for reducing salinisation in soil and water in agricultural wetland ecosystems. The DSS was tested in a pilot farming area located on the northern Italian Adriatic coast that is affected by a high degree of soil salinisation. A permanent wireless sensor network (WSN) was designed and installed in the pilot area to collect data, in real time, about the evolution of soil moisture and salinity, as well as the salinity of water and aquifer depth, and local climatic data. The DSS can be easily operated through a web portal with a user-friendly graphic interface adapted for farmers. Final results demonstrated the reliability of the DSS for monitoring the water status in the target field and for predicting its impact on crop production. The DSS was also shown to be capable of providing irrigation advice consistent with crop water requirements and the water budget. Moreover, results showed that when the DSS recommendation is followed, crop yield and water use efficiency is higher than the current regional system of advice for irrigation – i.e. the IRRINET system. Simulation of irrigation strategies through AquaCrop has shown that irrigation can reduce salinity in agricultural soils. This evidence was, however, not as strong in the field experiments. The irrigation recommendations of the DSS have not been implemented with the necessary precision and continuity, because of the rigidity of the irrigation system adopted, as well as of the water quality and availability. For the practical implementation of the advice of the DSS, farms must have a high degree of technical flexibility, along with an adequate irrigation system. Due to the pandemic, the planned training programme was converted to online self-learning, with original didactic materials produced and made available on the project's website. Health restrictions also led to the cancellation of the final conference, but the beneficiary produced two publications and video (available on the website) to compensate. Local farmers were also involved in the demonstration activities. The collaboration initiated with the Consorzio di Bonifica Canale Emiliano Romagnolo (CER), which devised the IRRINET system, is key to the future sustainability of the project. The IRRINET provides irrigation advice to about 80% of the farmers of the Emilia-Romagna region (RER), and CER is willing to improve this system to address the lack of irrigation indications specifically designed for saline soils. To further develop the project technology, the beneficiary, in partnership with CER and Agrisfera, has responded to a call from the Rural Development Plan of RER. The call concerns the creation of an operational group for investigating typologies of irrigation management that can contribute to controlling the penetration of the saline wedge into the freshwater aquifer. The permanent wireless sensor network installed by the project at the Agrisfera's farm is being used in a follow-on project. For further information: http://www.lifeagrowetlands2.eu Last update: 28/05/21 European Commission/CINEA (https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life_en) LIFE Nature and Biodiversity This LIFE priority area is aimed at developing, testing and demonstrating best practices, solutions and integrated approaches to contribute to the development and implementation of nature and biodiversity policy and legislation, as well as improving the related kno wledge base. To date, the LIFE Nature and Biodiversity component has co-financed 318 projects in Italy. These represent a total investment of €484 million, of which €279.5 million was contributed by the EU. Completed LIFE Nature projects in Italy have focused on habitats (e.g. mountain habitats, coastal areas, dunes, rivers, forests, wetlands, grasslands, calcareous fens, streams and lakes, Apennine forests, meadows, pastures, and intertidal salt marshes in the Venice lagoon ), reflecting the kinds of biotopes that need to be maintained to achieve a favourable conservation status in Italy. Others have targeted the conservation and restoration of species, such as large carnivores (brown bear and wolf), cetaceans, bats, raptors, loggerhead turtle, lamprey, cartilaginous fish, Olympia ground beetle, the European red squirrel in Umbria, bird species of EU interest, Adriatic sturgeon, wolf in the Alps, scavenger raptors, red deer (in Corsica and Sardinia), sea marigold in Sicily, brown algae in the Cinque Terre, and Italian grey partridge. To halt biodiversity losses projects succeeded in eradicating alien species while enhancing the conservation status of native sp ecies, like in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region where the invasive Louisiana red swamp crayfish was successfully eradicated and the native crayfish populations improved; while in Basso Molise biodiversity is supported by the implementation of integrated conservation actions. Some projects focused on reducing threats to insects by developing an early warning system for containing
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