Agriculture for cooperation and protection of biodiversity – From the earth the only hope for peace, CiainExpo and sustainable development
Rome April 21, 2015 – Biodiversity and international cooperation: two themes that bind to draw the perspective of a better world. This is one of the qualifying contributions that the Cia brings to Expo by leveraging its well-established legacy of action precisely in the protection of biodiversity and the affirmation of organic crops, and its very long history of international collaboration especially on the shores of the Mediterranean.
The migrant tragedy unfolding on the southern shore of the Mediterranean makes it necessary to find lasting solutions capable of rebuilding a social and economic fabric capable of averting the desperate flight of those populations. Always with his NGO ASeS (Ass. Solidarity and Development: www.ases-ong.org) the Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori is engaged on the cooperation front especially with the Maghreb countries, with missions in Paraguay and Africa but, today more than ever, there is a need to strengthen, through the setting up of agricultural cooperation programs, a sustainable development policy such as to offer those populations and especially the youth of those countries, a perspective. That is why at Expo, the CIA is engaged in a partnership with the CNR on Lake Chad to make, of this immense water resource, a strength of Africa’s new development. But today the issue of how, through agriculture, a new development model can and should be set up has become inescapable. Especially on the shores of the Mediterranean. It is Cia’s opinion that in order to halt the desperate migration from the shores of Africa, it is necessary to work to build an economic perspective for those populations. And no sector like agriculture can do this all the more if it is an agriculture aimed at maintaining and enhancing biodiversity. And so the biodiversity theme that characterizes Cia’s presence at the Milan Expo becomes the programmatic platform for sustainable development.
Cia is main partner of Biodiversity Park, which covers an area of 8,500 square meters and is the Thematic Area of Expo Milano 2015 dedicated to biodiversity. Inside the park, it includes a theater and two Pavilions, the Organic Pavilion and the one dedicated to the Biodiversity Exhibition. The purpose of Biodiversity Park is to enhance Italy’s environmental, agricultural, and agri-food excellence through a pathway that chronicles the evolution and preservation of agricultural biodiversity, including through a schedule of events, meetings, and multimedia experiences. There, visitors to Expo 2025 will be able to taste and purchase organic products from Cia member farms as well as receive information on organic farming and biodiversity protection practices.
