Yesterday INGV and the Lucano Apennine Park Authority signed a Collaboration Agreement aimed at the promotion, study and protection of the geological sites present within the protected area
In the presence of the Minister of the Environment, Sergio Costa, the President of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Carlo Doglioni, and the Commissioner of the Ente Parco Nazionale dell'Appennino Lucano Val d'Agri Lagonegrese, Giuseppe Priore, signed yesterday, at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Environment and the Protection of the Territory and the Sea, a Collaboration Agreement. Also present at the event were the Director General of INGV, Maria Siclari, and the Irish Ambassador to Italy, Colm Ó Floinn.
"The Agreement is of particular interest to the activities of our Institute”, declared the President of INGV. “The seismic risk in Basilicata must not be underestimated and it is essential for us to continuously improve the study of the territory for the mitigation of this risk. INGV's scientific and technical capabilities are at the service of science and the community. We therefore hope that this is the first step in a long process of collaboration that can involve the entire Basilicata Region".
The objective of the agreement between the two entities is to collaborate for the promotion, study and protection of the geological sites present within the park. In particular, INGV will provide technical-scientific support for the implementation of projects and dissemination activities, and will have access to the protected area to carry out activities related to scientific research and monitoring.
"The protocol signed yesterday recognizes, on the one hand, the great work of institutional growth carried out by the Lucano Apennine Park Authority, on the other, the strong scientific commitment that has always been made by INGV”, added the Minister of the Environment Sergio Costa. “This Agreement well represents how the themes of geology, seismology and volcanology blend perfectly with the reality of a National Park to get to the knowledge of citizens. And the usability of these themes within the Park is one of the central points of the protocol, with the aim of growing together around a few but fundamental keywords: protection, training, information and participation".
In addition to its important environmental, archaeological and cultural heritage, the territory of the Val d'Agri National Park is characterized by having been the site of the violent earthquake of 16 December 1857, with an estimated magnitude of 7.0, still remembered today as one of the most destructive of the seismic history of southern Italy.
"The Val d'Agri National Park has been working in the area for several years to help systematize the seismological knowledge acquired over the years since the devastating earthquake of 1857”, recalled Commissioner Giuseppe Priore. “The purpose of this Agreement, in addition to the fruitful collaboration with INGV for scientific topics of common interest, is also the launch of a tourist exchange policy at European level which can also increase knowledge and interest abroad for our area".
As the Irish ambassador to Italy, Colm Ó Floinn, also recalled, it was precisely starting from the direct and field study of the Basilicata earthquake of 1857 that the eclectic Irish engineer Robert Mallet, considered the father of seismology, experimented the his theory of the dynamics of earthquakes, presented eleven years earlier at the Royal Irish Academy.
"Over time, Mallet's work has endeared this territory to my fellow Irishmen. The story of the father of seismology is just one of the many examples of the cultural, historical and friendship ties that bind our two countries and which, today, makes me proud to be here and to take part in the signing of an Agreement whose element the safeguarding of the Lucanian territory is central”, concluded Ambassador Ó Floinn.
#ingv #enteparcoappenninolucano #minambiente #basilicata #earthquakes #mallet
Photo 1 – A moment of the ceremony with the President of INGV, Carlo Doglioni, and the Commissioner of the Lucano Apennine Park Authority, Giuseppe Priore, held in the presence of the Minister of the Environment, Sergio Costa, the Irish Ambassador in Italy , Colm Ó Floinn, and the Director General of INGV, Maria Siclari.
Photo 2 - The signing of the Collaboration Agreement between the President of INGV, Carlo Doglioni, and the Commissioner of the Lucano Apennine Park Authority, Giuseppe Priore.