On December 17, the Final Conference of the LIFE SEA.NET project took place in the distinguished setting of Palazzo Falletti in Rome, marking the conclusion of a four-year initiative dedicated to strengthening the governance and management of Italy’s marine Natura 2000 sites.
Co funded by the EU LIFE Programme and coordinated by Legambiente, the project brought together a broad partnership involving the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security, ISPRA, the Marine Protected Areas of the Egadi Islands, Punta Campanella and Regno di Nettuno, the Tuscan Archipelago National Park and the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, the Basilicata and Campania Regions and Federpesca.
The conference provided an opportunity to present the actions implemented throughout the project and the results achieved. A key part of the event was the presentation of the Governance Toolkit, developed as a practical guideline to support the management of marine Natura 2000 sites. The discussion also created space for exchange with project partners, institutional actors and stakeholders, focusing on the role of the Natura 2000 Network and on future perspectives aligned with the EU 2030 objectives.
Across the full four-year project cycle, Alessandro Piazzi from SETIN led project monitoring activities and managed the overall project budget. The conclusion of LIFE SEA.NET does not represent the end of the challenge launched by the project. On the contrary, it underlines the importance of ensuring that the tools and results achieved are effectively integrated into policies and management practices. This is essential for the marine Natura 2000 Network to become a truly operational ecological infrastructure, supported by coastal communities and maritime stakeholders and grounded in a coordinated and stable governance framework, with the long-term protection of Italy’s marine biodiversity as its central objective.
