Biodiversity for all tastes E-Book

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• Herausgeber: Sagep Editori
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Liguria in one of the most visited Italian regions. It manages to maintain a land that is intact, beautiful, and healthly in the 2000 Nature Areas interspersed around region and, in particular, in the Parks. It boast a "natural capital" of extremely high value that counts three bio-geographical region (alpine, continental, and mediterranean) in one small space, a unique case in Italy.

Leseprobe

Region of Liguria

Department of the Environment

Section on Projects and programmes for the Protection and Development of the Environment

Project realised with funding from the Ministry for the Environment and the Protection of the Land and Sea

as part of the "National Strategy for Biodiversity: implementation of sustainable tourism"

Credits

The photographs were provided by the Parks, Natural Reserves, Protected Marine Areas, and the Region of Liguria.

Furthermore:

Archivio GBH - Daniele Guglielmi pp. 10, 11, 12-13

Piero Pelassa p. 14

Cristiano Queirolo p. 34 (in alto)

Monica Saettone p. 35 (ricetta)

Gabriella Motta pp. 36-37

Fabrizio Fazzari pp. 44-45

Mariapaola Chiarlone pp. 26,27

Riccardo Massino p. 27 (ricetta)

Translation

Langue&Parole, Milan

Editorial coordinator

Alessandro Avanzino

Editor

Fabrizio Fazzari, Titti Motta

Graphics and Layout

Barbara Ottonello

© 2015 Sagep Editori

www.sagep.it

www.parks.it//regione.liguria/

Sommarioregional and marine protected area hanbury botanical gardens

regional Nature park Ligurian Alps

Regional Nature Reserve Gallinara island

Regional Nature Reserve Rio Torsero

regional Nature park Bric Tana

regional Nature park Piana Crixia

Regional Nature Reserve Adelasia

marine protected areaIsland of Bergeggi

regional Nature park Beigua

protected natural area of local interest Mura park

regional Nature park Antola

regional Nature park Portofino

Marine Protected Area Portofino

Regional Nature Park Aveto

National Park Cinque Terre

marine protected area Cinque Terre

regional and marine protected area Porto Venere

Regional Nature park Montemarcello-Magra-vara

Alta via dei Monti Liguri

Introduction

Biodiversity and taste.

So, my job is to explain this pairing, this logical jump from a scientific term that in Europe is synonymous to protec-ting habitats and species, to that noun so dear to our pleasure.

I need to do it in two stages.

First of all, imagine that you are in a large room in Rome where all the representatives of the Regions and the Minister - who generally talk about biodiversity as if it were only a fact of legislation, procedures, and Latin names - vote in a document that provides support to Regions in relation to information and tourist activities, to be presented at Expo 2015.

Was it all just a big mistake? No, anything but. These are experts who want to send out a clear message shared at national and EU level; i.e., that the protection of biodiversity produces essential goods and services. Sure, they are services and goods (“eco-system services” in Euro lingo) that we often do not pay for with money: clean water, pure air, wood, fuel, natural recycling of waste, environments for recreation, and measures to mitigate erosion. But we pay dearly when we do not have them: just think of the costs involved in building and maintaining a water purifier…

So then, does biodiversity help tourism? Of course it does! If Liguria is one of the most visited Italian regions, it is because it still manages to maintain a land that is intact, beautiful, and healthy in the 2000 Nature Areas intersper-sed around the Region and, in particular, in the Parks. Also, because it can boast a “natural capital” of extremely high value that counts three bio-geographical regions (alpine, continental, and Mediterranean) in one small space, a uni-que case in Italy.

So if a picture is worth a thousand words, in Liguria, where the people are not that chatty, we like the idea that a fla-vour, or an aroma, is worth so much more. Aromas and flavours, more than sight, hearing, and touch, immediately reawaken feelings of pleasure and fulfilment that do not need to be rationalised. They communicate with our most emotional side linked to deep memories.

Therefore, the flavour of biodiversity is the way we have chosen to explain, without too many words, how our deli-cious food is so indissolubly linked to the protection and development of our rich, precious, and widespread regional biodiversity.

When you discover the plain cuisine typical of western Liguria (page 15) or the ciuppin fish soup (page 27), taste the honey from the Ligurian Parks (page 33) or the pigato grape (page 19) or try the San Stè cheese (page 55) or the anchovies (page 65), you cannot help but immediately think of the wonder of the alpine pastures, the beech woods in autumn, the shady chestnut groves, the garrigue in bloom, the aromas of the Mediterranean scrub, the mysterious bats, the thousands of species of birds, the corals, and the gorgeous underwater landscapes of our Marine Protected Areas... and of how much the work of the men and women who look after them all is worth.

The Assessor for Parks of the Liguria Region

Pippo Rossetti

Location

Corso Montecarlo, 43

La Mortola

18039 Ventimiglia (IM)

Tel. [phone]

www.giardinihanbury.com/en/contatti

Surface area

18 hectares

Municipality

Ventimiglia

regional and marine protected area hanbury botanical gardens

How to get there

By car

A10 motorway Genova – Ventimiglia: exit at Ventimiglia.

SS 1 Aurelia towards France Ponte San Luigi (approximately 7 km).

Escota A8 motorway Aix en Provence – Menton: exit at Menton.

RN 7 towards Italy Ponte San Luigi. SS 1 Aurelia (3 km).

By train

Genova-Ventimiglia line (Ventimiglia station)

RT bus terminus (Riviera Trasporti - Tel. + 39 0184 592706) for Ponte San Luigi in Via Cavour, 150 metres from Ventimiglia railway station.

In 1867, Sir Thomas Hanburypurchased a large holding at Capo Mortola, at the French border, and created a botanical garden there which became world famous. Along with the pre-existing citrusand olive trees,he introduced new varie-ties of fruitand ornamental trees from gardens all over the world and French, Genoese, and Sicilian nurseries.

In Liguria, citrus trees were cultivated since the 16th centu-ry in Nervi, Genoa, San Remo, and

Menton. Today the Hanbury collection inclu-des 270 citrus plants, inclu-ding ancient ornamental or production varieties, with 60 different types of sweet orange, bitter orange, lemon, cedro, lime, chi-notto, grapefruit, and ber-gamot, many of which are important for eating or for cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and ornamental purposes.

The cultivations have a low environmental impact, with biological methods subject to rigorous monito-ring.

The shaddock

Many citrus trees produce fruit with lots of seeds and lack commercial qualities, but their conservation is important for maintaining biodi-versity from a genetic, historical, and agronomic point of view, also for possible future usages.

The shaddockis extremely large; it produces fruit that is over 2kg in weight and 25cm in diameter, with a very thick aromatic peel. The fruit of the bitter orange tree are the basic ingredient of marmalade which is typically eaten at breakfast or afternoon tea by the English.

In Riviera, the bitter orange treesare a sign of the cultural exchan-ges between the Mediterranean, the Orient, and English style which is reflected in the love for gardens and nature, also through the estate of the Hanbury Botanical Gardens, a regional protected area managed by Genoa University.

Beyond the garden

The sea lying under Capo Mortola comprises a protected marine area which is extremely rich in biodiversity, with meadows of posidonia,underwater springs of fresh water, shallows, caves, and interesting populations of sea bass and lob-sters. The utilisation of the area is regulated by conservation measures aimed above all at protectingthe faunaand its habitats.

The Hanbury Botanical Gardens also support social activities and the spread of the principles of respecting flora and nature overall, in collaboration with the hinterland municipalities. They recently took part in the reconstruction of theHerb Museum at Cosio d’Arrosciaand promoting lavender (essential oils and other products in the municipalities ofMolini di Triora and Carpasio).

Hanbury Jam

(Confettura

degli Hanbury)

Ingredients

1 kg of caffra apple or kei

apple pulp

2 slightly unripe apples or quin-ces

750 g of sugar

½ shaddock (or alternatively

2 untreated lemons),

just the rind

water, as needed

Preparation

Peel and core the caffra apples and unripe apples or quinces.

Place the caffra apple pulp, the sugar, and the white part of the shaddock or lemon rind

in a saucepan with very little water and bring to the boil.

After 20 minutes add the apples or quinces cut into small pieces.

Continue cooking until you reach the desired density.

Fill sterilised jars with the mixture, leaving 0.5 cm of empty space.

Close the jars well and leave to cool.

During the cooking process, the yellow colour of the caffra apples turns red.

The rind of the shaddock (simi-lar to a pomelo) or the lemons is needed to make the jam bitter. Hanbury Jam has a slightly sour taste and is served with tea and English biscuits.