Research, Planning and Design for sustainable and inclusive growth
A seminar on PES was held on June 20 in Rome.
Representatives from the Lazio Region, ONG Legambiente, Roma Natura, ISPRA, Lands, Isole Egadi MPA and Fondazione Montagne Italia were among the speakers.
Giacomo from Ecolinfa talked about his international experience on PES and launched the Italian Alliance for Ecosystem Services.
The IES alliance was launched in Rome, during the seminar on ecosystem services which took place on the 20th of June. IES Alliance was born thanks to the activities of Ecolinfa and Lands.
The main objectives of the Alliance are to create a network on this topic and a point of reference for the development of scientific approaches and operational methodologies, to encourage the adoption of specific policies and to support public institutions, economic operators and the civil society to design and implement PES schemes.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is funding a project on the mangrove rise in Guinea-Bissau including, inter alia, the technical support to promote carbon compensation PES mechanisms.
Giacomo provided a specific guide to promote the PES in the Country and a one-week training course for IBAP (Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas) public officers.
In 2015 the Italian Parliament approved law n. 221, concerning the green economy and the sustainable use of natural resources.
This law delegates the Government to adopt one or more decrees to introduce a Payment for Ecosystem Services (Pagamenti dei Servizi Ecosistemici e Ambientali – PSEA) system into the Italian legislation.
Even if the Italian Government has not still adopted the mentioned decrees, Law n. 221 provides some specific elements to orient the PES policy in Italy:
– the transformation of the ecosystem services in market products;
– the PES should increase or maintain ecosystem functions;
– the carbon compensation coming from public forests, the like water regulation measures in mountain areas, biodiversity conservation and landscape preservation should be valorized through the PES system;
– the incentives to environmental accountability systems.
A seminar on PES was held on June 20 in Rome. The same day the Italian Parliament discussed the regulatory framework on protected areas, which also includes the PES adoption in parks and reserves.
The new SETIN website will be soon online. Then, Ecolinfa and SETIN is opening and strengthening their social media tools. Ecolinfa has already a Facebook page , has recently opened a twitter account and will be open soon an Instagram account.
SETIN is going to open twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts.
SETIN has joined ENGEKO, a permanent consortium active in engineering services.
Engeko is specialised in specific areas, with a view to offering integrated services through a common work procedure capable of increasing the quality of products, optimising timeframes and results.
Due to its use of the very latest technologies and know-how, Engeko can tackle any design challenge at the global level with great expertise and reliability.
Based in Rome, Engeko offers services for infrastructure, architecture and civil engineering, the environment, territory and energy.
After becoming part of Engeko, SETIN is committed to addressing new challenges in Europe and overseas.
SETIN is currently involved in the “Front End Engineering and Design for the Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India Gas Pipeline” Project, on behalf of SIM Spa and thanks to the collaboration with Mr. Giorgio Coppola, the geologist in charge.
SETIN will carry on the GIS activities, including data catalogue construction, analysis and elaboration of thematic maps.
In this period Ecolinfa is shifting its attention and energies towards the design of international projects. Specifically, Ecolinfa is working on projects design under GEF, LIFE Programme, MED Programme and other EU funds.
The most important themes on this activity are biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, sustainable financing, sustainable tourism, with specific focuses on small islands and marine-coastal zones.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF), has financed a project for “Advancing sustainable resource management to improve livelihoods and protect biodiversity”.
The Project Objective is “to effectively and sustainably use biodiversity and maintain ecosystem goods and services in Palau by building institutional capacity to integrate the Palau Protected Area Network (PAN) with the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) initiative, and fostering a ridge‐to‐reef approach across and within these initiatives.
So, ecosystem services are one of the themes addressed in this project. In particular, the project will contribute to:
A consultants’ team, contracted by UNDP, is drafting a GEF6 Project on biodiversity mainstreaming into key sectors in Palau. Giacomo is the geospatial and landscape specialist of this team.
Italy has an historical partnership with the PSIDS (Pacific Small Islands Developing States), including Palau. For example, in 2015, permanent missions from Palau and Italy organized, with the support of the Global Partnerships Forum and of the Sustainable Oceans Alliance the forum Healthy oceans and seas: a way forward while Telespazio, a company of the Italian Finmeccanica Group, signed a memorandum of understanding on earth observation with the Republic of Palau.
The Italian Minister of the Environment supports Palau in the “Establishment of the First National wide Marine Sanctuary in Palau: a long-term adaptation response to the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems” with a financial contribution.