On May 24, throughout Europe we celebrate the European Day of Parks, aimed at commemorating the day when, in 1909, the first European National Park was established in Sweden. In Italy, the first National Parks were created in 1922: the Gran Paradiso Park and the Abruzzo Park, which later became the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise. Of more recent date is the establishment of the Regional Parks.
The celebration of the Day in Fondi coincided with the inauguration of thethe new Area fitness playground with a Health Path of Villa Placitelli: a redeveloped and equipped area, created by the Regional Natural Park of Monti Ausoni and Lago di Fondi under the programme “Sports at 360 degrees”promoted and financed by the Lazio Region with the aim of promoting play and motor activity in the open air, for young and old.
“An area for which – as underlined by the Director of the Park Authority, dott. Lucio De Filippis – the most suitable design and construction solutions have been carefully studied and identified to guarantee the health, comfort and maximum safety of the users, with the utmost respect for the environment and the naturalistic values of the site in which it stands: a positive example of promotion of a new way of conceiving and living free time, in close contact with nature”.
On the same front, the Lazio Region is also engaged with a program of interventions “Nature is well-being” which is part of the global strategy Healthy Parks Healthy People (“Parchi Sani Gente Sana”) adopted by the World Community of Protected Areas since 2014 and promoted in Europe by the EUROPARC Federation: a program aimed at promoting and strengthening the action of the Parks in terms of education and health protection, especially for children.
In the presentation speech of the new structure to the public, the Director De Filippis also wanted to recall how this year the anniversary of the European Day of Parks is celebrated under the slogan Building on our Rootswhich well sums up the dual function that Parks are called upon to perform today: on the one hand, to protect nature by preserving its biodiversity and necessary balances, and on the other, at the same time, to exercise a proactive role in directing and guiding the construction of the new, suggesting sustainable development guidelines and models, in order to pass on to future generations a natural heritage that is as intact as possible.
“A commitment that – concluded Dr. De Filippis– cannot be separated from another equally fundamental task, which the staff of the Monti Ausoni Park performs with commendable passion and dedication: training and environmental education in favor of the youngest, pupils and students, who will be citizens of tomorrow”.