The presence of a vast abusive landfill in the protected area of the Trionto river, which has long been reported by Legambiente, represents yet another act of environmental violence perpetrated against an already fragile and precious territory. The area, recognized as a special protection area (ZPS) and an integral part of the Natura 2000 network, has been defaced by an illegal accumulation of hazardous and non -hazardous waste, with serious risks for the river ecosystem, a groundwater and public health. Legambiente Calabria, with its territorial circles of Corigliano Rossano and Scala Coeli, expresses its applause to the action of law enforcement and judiciary for the seizure of the landfill and the most firm condemnation for this environmental massacre. It is unacceptable that in a tied area, protected by law and of extraordinary naturalistic importance, such a violation of environmental rules, the result of theertia, complicity or guilty inattention can still be recorded today.
All the more serious and disconcerting as it happened if we consider that precisely in the territory of the Municipality of Calopezzati, in recent days, a beautiful news has come: the reporting of Nidi di Fratino (Charadrius Alexandrinus), especially the symbol of coastal biodiversity, in strong regression and protected at European level.
A confirmation of the ecological value of the area that clashes violently with the incivility of those who continue to treat these areas as open -air landfills. Legambiente strongly asks for the urgent activation of an environmental reclamation intervention and ecological restoration of the compromised area; the strengthening of checks throughout the Ionian territory, with particular attention to the Natura 2000 sites; The activation of permanent tools of participation and civic supervision, in synergy between institutions, law enforcement and environmental associations.
According to the latest Ecomafia 2024 report of Legambiente, in Calabria 2,912 environmental crimes were ascertained in one year, with an increase of 31.4 % compared to the previous year. In the illegal cycle of waste, Calabria is third by marking a disturbing growth in a year of 140.7 % with a worrying incidence along the Ionian coastal band. It is no longer tolerable than areas of naturalistic value, such as Trionto, are treated as lands of nobody. Legambiente is engaged in the area, precisely in these days, in concrete actions of protection, education and active citizenship including “wanting to Italy” 2025, the campaign for small municipalities and good practices, which also involved Calabrian territories in defense of common and landscape goods; “Calabria in the center of the Mediterranean”, environmental training project and youth participation, with activities in schools; “NonTiscordardimé” Operation Clean schools, which mobilized hundreds of students for the regeneration of degraded school and urban spaces; Local actions for the Citizen Science and civic monitoring, already active on the coastal stretch of Crati and ready to extend to the Trionto area. Environmental legality is a garrison of democracy. Defending rivers, coasts, protected areas means defending the health, beauty, identity of our territories. Never more silence. Never more landfills in nature. It’s time to react.