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Copagri, the Confederation representing 800 agricultural producers from the Sardinian Western Coast (Oristanese) decided to support the "Hope for Sennariolo" campaign for an environmental and socio-economic rebirth of Montiferru that goes "beyond emergencies."

Over two years after the devastating Montiferru-Planargia mega fire, which saw the destruction of 20,000 hectares of forests, cork oak groves, pastures, and agricultural companies, depleting natural resources and crippling the economy of some countries, the Copagri Oristano companies are back in operation and have decided to join forces to support the "Hope For Sennariolo" reforestation campaign. This campaign, coordinated by the MEDSEA Foundation with the essential support of the Municipality of Sennariolo, started in recent months on the Santa Vittoria hill, better known as "Su Monte", with the aim of implementing an environmental requalification project and requalifying the entire area - up to over 40 hectares - by planting trees and shrubs. To do this, "as a Foundation we work beyond the contingencies of emergencies themselves," adds Piera Pala, the newly appointed president of MEDSEA, "given the increasingly pressing need to strengthen the natural defense of ecosystems, restoring them as in this case and improving their conditions, at sea as on land, to promptly address the effects of climate change."

"Due to the July 2021 fire, the Municipality not only lost a large part of its agricultural economy - over two-thirds of its crops, but also that typical microclimate of the Mediterranean forest," says Mayor Gianbattista Ledda. "With the help of initiatives like 'Hope For Sennariolo,' coordinated by MEDSEA, and supporting organizations like Copagri Oristano, we have a clear vision and a defined path for the rebirth and regeneration of the entire area."

"The Montiferru fire deeply affected us because it also involved some of our members and, in general, the communities we have been operating in for several decades," explains the president of Copagri Oristano, Mario Putzolu. "That's why we intervened immediately, thanks to the generosity of the associated companies, with aid for livestock, such as feed and hay, and later initiated an internal fundraising campaign in which several of our companies participated. We then decided to donate the proceeds to support the MEDSEA's Hope For Sennariolo campaign, which seems to be in line with our vision of protection, enhancement, and harmonious development of the territory."

The first step of this ambitious requalification project (covering over 40 hectares) was the removal of organic residues and the recovery of material, part of which will be turned into wood chips for soil fertilization. But the heart of the initiative will begin in the coming weeks with the preparation of the site and the subsequent planting of the trees. "This is not just a reforestation project," explain the representatives of Hope For Sennariolo, forestry doctors Carlo Poddi and Maria Francesca Nonne. "The restoration of the rural and forest landscape, its biodiversity, as in the IUCN's Forest Landscape Restoration guidelines, aims to recover its ecological and social functionality. Meeting current and future needs and offering the multiple benefits and uses of the territory over time is much more than planting trees. "Hope for Sennariolo" is the first step in a 360-degree environmental, social, and rural regeneration process."