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Sofia Bonicalza

“You just need to put on your mask to visit a distant planet and witness the incredible spectacle of life”. For Sofia Bonicalza, several times Italian under 20 and under 23 athletics champion, the sea is wonder and commitment: "The question has always been: what can I do?".

Her story as an environmental activist begins in the small Sardinian Island of La Maddalena, where on vacation she collects plastics and microplastics from the beaches. Her clean-ups involve an ever-increasing number of participants and thanks to the collaboration with Parley for the Oceans, the American foundation committed to the conservation of marine ecosystems, the cleaning activities move to other Italian coasts and to France. Sofia organizes university lectures, lessons for children of elementary classes.

Passion becomes a scientific interest, and the young champion studies "Life Sciences and Biology" in Nice. Various internships lead her to monitor the monk seal in Greece, dolphins and whales in Liguria. Sofia’s university path continues in Edinburgh, with the master's degree in “Health of Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystems”. But the question continues to be: what can I do?

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In 2019 in La Maddalena she organizes a very special clean-up which soon becomes international. His 2020 “Plastic Hunt” involves 65 nations and 180 teams. A response to the pandemic: anyone can register, contribute to the collection of litter on the shorelines and upload images of the loot on the online platform. The prizes for the winners are certificates of adoption of endangered marine animals.

The meeting with MEDSEA soon became a collaboration: "I immediately liked the international dimension of the foundation, its interest extended to the whole Mediterranean. It is the principle of collaboration with groups, institutions and individuals that fascinates me most. Teaming up is the only way to win the battle for the conservation of marine ecosystems. I am delighted to have become an ambassador, to make my contribution in spreading our Call to Beauty”.

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Contacts

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Sofia Bonicalza

“You just need to put on your mask to visit a distant planet and witness the incredible spectacle of life”. For Sofia Bonicalza, several times Italian under 20 and under 23 athletics champion, the sea is wonder and commitment: "The question has always been: what can I do?".

Her story as an environmental activist begins in the small Sardinian Island of La Maddalena, where on vacation she collects plastics and microplastics from the beaches. Her clean-ups involve an ever-increasing number of participants and thanks to the collaboration with Parley for the Oceans, the American foundation committed to the conservation of marine ecosystems, the cleaning activities move to other Italian coasts and to France. Sofia organizes university lectures, lessons for children of elementary classes.

Passion becomes a scientific interest, and the young champion studies "Life Sciences and Biology" in Nice. Various internships lead her to monitor the monk seal in Greece, dolphins and whales in Liguria. Sofia’s university path continues in Edinburgh, with the master's degree in “Health of Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystems”. But the question continues to be: what can I do?

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In 2019 in La Maddalena she organizes a very special clean-up which soon becomes international. His 2020 “Plastic Hunt” involves 65 nations and 180 teams. A response to the pandemic: anyone can register, contribute to the collection of litter on the shorelines and upload images of the loot on the online platform. The prizes for the winners are certificates of adoption of endangered marine animals.

The meeting with MEDSEA soon became a collaboration: "I immediately liked the international dimension of the foundation, its interest extended to the whole Mediterranean. It is the principle of collaboration with groups, institutions and individuals that fascinates me most. Teaming up is the only way to win the battle for the conservation of marine ecosystems. I am delighted to have become an ambassador, to make my contribution in spreading our Call to Beauty”.

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Contacts


MEDSEA Mediterranean Sea and Coast Foundation

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