Sustainable tourism

Description of the  area northern  of Torbido Valley

Being the seaside so close to the   mountains -about 12/15 kilometres- the   sea  water is constantly   receiving    lots of fresh water by rivers  and  on  the beach  stripes of  sand are interwoven with stripes of river small round stones.

Notwithstanding the attraction of the seaside, the project concerns mostly the inner mountainous  territory,  the large river beds and their  ecosystems as well as the historical heritage   and  the old towns.   The countryside, in fact, is of particular  interest as you move from the coast  towards the mountains few kilometres far. Landscape is still untouched and with a wide range of biodiversity. The old towns had been built few km from the coasts at few hundreds metres high. Towns on the coasts developed no longer before the beginning of the 20th century.

All around the inner territory it is still possible to observe the remains of  cultivations of the past also on the slopes of mountains (terrace-cultivation). Nowadays  there are olive tree  fields  and citrus orchards very close or inside river beds.

   Towns  and  Inhabitants

Gioiosa Ionica, 7061, Marina Gioiosa Ionica, 6521, Grotteria, 3790, Mammola, 3176,  Martone, 592.

The Inhabitants  and Cultural Heritage

The project wants to move the interest of tourism to the old town historical centres allowing the enjoyment of the shore and the sea as well as the mountains and the ancient remains from different ages. The place is rich in historical heritage from ancient Greek Colonies to Roman times and middle ages. The area has been largely inhabited since ancient times and the population grew up to the half of 20^th century then it began to decrease. Torbido valley has today about 22.000 inhabitants being the native populations reduced and partly replaced by people coming from East Europe. African and Asian are also present.

As a heritage of the past there are the remains of a Roman theatre and a Roman Villa with a huge cistern, Byzantine churches, monasteries and abbeys, medieval towers and castles. Also the architecture of historical towns is interesting as well as farmhouses with water and olive oil mills, fountains and fountain basins, ancient wine cellars.

The economy has a very low profile and, as a consequence, not even tourism has developed in the area. The tourist season is limited to August and the most important presence is due to the natives migrated elsewhere coming back for summer holidays.

The project wants to support tourism most of the year, widely from Europe and not only for the swimming season. A quality tourism interested not only to the beach and the seaside but also to the untouched nature and ecological attraction of migration of birds, to the historical heritage, to the handicrafts and local cuisine. Moreover many little towns have almost been abandoned, particularly the historical centres that are often in a bad state of repair and need to be restored and refurbished.

Proposed Activities:

Development of Sustainable Tourism

1) Promoting an action plan from local authorities, visitors’ offices and associations of civil society organizing an offer of hospitality, refreshment, local cooking and conservation of food, local handicraft products, local transport.

This activity consists in building four networks of:

a) guest houses suitable for hosting tourists  

b) typical restaurants offering and serving local food;   

c) farmers, handicraft factories and shops of local food and products;  

d) better mobility in the area by shared taxis or small vans from and to Lamezia and Reggio Calabria airports and for other scheduled routes (as from railway stations to towns and from Tyrrhenian to Ionian coast and vice versa) at agreed prices.   

e) Booking apartments and transfer service.  

Building a blog, Preparation of advertisement material, Publication of Booklets  

2) A study centre of the territory for the enhancement of the local cultural heritage and conservation of nature as the main resource.

The Centre will support Gioiosa Ionica local authorities and citizens in a plan of sustainable and eco restoring of the houses of historical centres devoted to hospitality.

The Centre will also organize three workshops for builders and tourist operators with the participation of experts, representatives of Local Authorities, Aspromonte National Park and Mountains Community Authority of Limina. The subjects of workshop will be on:

a) eco rules in building, refurbishing old houses instead of building new ones,

b) reusing, recycling, reducing and treat waste,

c) ecological footprint and environment impact assessment.
Organization of the meetings and the venue of invited people. Preparation and publication of booklets, leaflets and posters.

3) Building and running a Naturalistic Observatory

A lasting protection and enjoyment of environment will be given by a centre of research with the establishment of a naturalistic observatory. Devoted to ecological studies under the scientific support of the Ecology Department of the university of Pavia, it will be fully operative during the migration of birds and raptors, Spring and late summer/autumn. It should host ornithologist and bird watcher volunteers on a programme of collecting and elaborating data. Other tasks are to collect and elaborate data on amphibians that are indicators of the state of environment. Educative programme towards tourist operators and schools.

Migrating raptors

The project area is very close to the major flyway for migrating birds. In particular, since raptors migrate mainly over land avoiding the crossing of open sea, thousands of birds of prey cross the Italian peninsula that is a natural springboard between Europe and Africa. Migration occurs twice both in spring and late summer/autumn and in many localities of the world it is an important attraction for tourists and birdwatchers.

The project promotes the knowledge and the popularization of this natural event through specific observation camps open to volunteers. There local tourist operators could learn where to watch migrants in the area as well as have information on the biological characteristics of raptors. Other activities will be scientific and popular publications and exhibitions.

Moreover this project should have a crucial importance for the protection of migrating raptors. In fact one of the major threats that these birds face during their journey is linked to poaching activity. The hunting tradition in Calabria is related to the hunt of migrating Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus) there called "adorno".

Local amphibians

Another aim of a naturalistic observatory should be the monitoring of local amphibians. In fact this area is an important site for these species being covered by forests and with available water resources. At least nine species are regularly observed in the area and among them, there is endemism: for instance the Southern Spectacled Salamander (Salamandrina terdigitata) and the Apennine Yellow-bellied Toad (Bombina pachypus). Unfortunately these species as well as the Apennine subspecies of the Spotted Salamander (Salamandra salamandra gigliolii) are endangered species in their areal and in the study area too. In particular deforestation, fires, improper use of water sources have negatively influenced the amphibians populations specially at low altitude areas.

The activities of the naturalistic observatory should promote the knowledge and the popularization of these species as well as provide important guidelines to the management of the territory. In particular the recovery of abandoned agricultural basins (locally called "gebbia") will be carried on as an initiative aimed at protecting biodiversity in this important piece of the Apennines.

The observatory will also have a programme for mammals, above all those in danger of poaching as dormouses (Glis Glis).

Eco and sustainable and refurbishment and restoration of an old, public building by a firm of local builders. It will also be an example of how renovating buildings

Furniture and equipment for stays and work of volunteers camps;  

Rebuilding of old water basins;  

Publication of booklets and organization of exhibitions;  

Organization of at least 6 observation camps and car hiring;  

A scientific committee with an ecologist, a naturalist and sociologist will plan the activities of the observatory as well as the educational activities addressed to tourists operators and schools;

The observatory will also offer an office for the other activities of the project

1) Label naturalistic and cultural paths;

7 routes are proposed, one for each smaller towns and two each for the largest ones.

From Martone the mountainous path of amphibians, Buzzards and Honey Buzzards, from the spring of “Crini” to the “Cardini” farmhouse in the ancient hunting preserve of the Prince . From Grotteria another path of amphibians toward the plain of mint (Piano della Menta) with Apennine Yellow-bellied Toad (Bombina pachypus) in the local water basin and the spring of “Scialata”.

From Gioiosa Marina the archaeological path with the Roman theatre and the towers of middle age.

From the town of Mammola a route towards the Serre mountains to the site of “Marzanello” lake and “Croce Ferrata”; the second one , the “path of the Greeks”, the ancient route of

pilgrims towards the Byzantine abbey of Saint Nicodemo, with different vegetation according to the height: olive trees, oaks, chestnut trees and beechs. This last route is inside Aspromonte National Park and will be agreed with that institution.

From Gioiosa Ionica the first route is from Gallizzi river valley, with water and olive oil mills, up to the town with the remains of a Roman villa inside the church of “Annunziata” and the ancient cistern of “Naniglio”.

The second route concerns the ancient town with the castle, the historical centre with palaces and churches and the visit of Amaduri Palace, the museum of local History. Naturalistic and historical heritage aspects will be integrated, in fact it is also envisaged a cooperation with the local board for cultural heritage.

The activity consists in:

a) planning and labelling the routes by sustainable wooden placards and stone supports;
b) organizing and implementing two guided tours in summer for three years   and in the preparation and publication of advertising leaflets and posters and a booklet;   

A technical committee of a Historical heritage expert, a naturalist and a sociologist will plan the routes, two workers will label it and the visits will be guided by other four people.

Booklets will be written, edited and issued by the monthly magazine ECO-Sustainable Education.

The exhibitions will be prepared by the ecologist and the naturalist engaged in the technical Observatory committee