Agri-culture, the first organic district on a Mediterranean island in Capraia

08.10.2023

Agrilevante was the setting for presenting this initiative, which is part of the broader "Capraia Smart Island" circular economy project, aiming at enhancing the island's territory with concrete actions aimed at protecting agro-ecosystems, safeguarding the landscape, and reducing the environmental impact of human activities.

Agrilevante's "colours of the earth" are joined by those of the sea. The great exhibition of machinery for the agricultural supply chains of Southern Italy and the Mediterranean, being held at the Bari exhibition centre, included the presentation of the initiative entitled "Agri-culture", coordinated by Chimica Verde and implemented in collaboration with the Municipality of Capraia. Organised within the broader framework of the circular economy project "Capraia Smart Island" - which is managed by Chimica Verde Bionet in collaboration with other players, including the manufacturers' association FederUnacoma for the part relating to mechanisation of heroic agriculture – "Agri-culture" aims to enhance the island's agricultural and cultural heritage. The presentation was attended by Capraia Isola Municipality project manager Lorenzo Castellani Lovati; Chimica Verde Bionet president Sofia Mannelli; FederBio president Maria Grazia Mammuccini; "cuisinesopher" Sergio Rossi, former director of the Conservatorio delle Cucine Mediterranee in Genoa; and director of the Greek Agrotorama Magazine Teodoro Sdrulias. During the meeting, Lorenzo Castellani Lovati explained that the aim of the project is to enhance the local economy by exploiting all of the area's resources, including the creation of an "organic district", the first to be implemented on a Mediterranean island. The Capraia district would be a model that could also be replicated in other contexts - said the project manager - and could become an important safeguard for the island's biodiversity, through concrete actions aimed at defending agro-ecosystems, protecting the landscape, and reducing the environmental impact of human activities.

Innovation is a virtuous process that - stressed Sofia Mannelli - must develop in harmony with the territory, to rediscover the island's food and cultural traditions. The Capraia project - added the FederBio president - looks to the world so that the world can look at Capraia. During the presentation, the strong link that has always linked quality agricultural production to gastronomy was noted. This is why one of the activities of the Agri-culture project includes the creation of a Capraia Historical Cookbook in collaboration with Tuscan Hotelier Institutes. Good cuisine - commented the "cuisinesopher" Sergio Rossi - is a vehicle to let people taste the history of a people. Finally, Teodoro Sdrulias emphasised the need for strong cooperation to prevent and counteract the consequences of climate change. Such cooperation is all the more necessary in a region like the Mediterranean that has been hit harder than others by global warming.

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