Diaccia Botrona: conclusion

Diaccia Botrona: conclusion

Today, Sept. 18, 2025, thanks to the 55,326 signatories of the petition delivered to the province in January 2023 by Fondazione Capellino, Province of Grosseto, WWF, Maremma Ornithological Group and Private Owner of the area, 215 hectares of wetland area are granted on a 90-year free loan to the Municipality of Castiglione della Pescaia, now sole custodian of the entire Reserve.

 

Why did the Capellino Foundation get involved in this cause?

Some environmental battles can last for years and do not always lead to a certain outcome. The Foundation is founded on the idea of giving back to nature what man takes from it, ensuring continuity of habitats and allocating profits not to private enrichment, but to the protection and restoration of ecosystems. Among the most fragile environments in Italy and Europe are wetlands: valuable but often threatened transitional territories vital to millions of migratory birds that use them as stopovers on their journeys.

According to this vision, the Diaccia Botrona area could not be designated for human activities. The Foundation facilitated a dialogue between institutions and private individuals, reaching an agreement that ensures public management of the land for 90 years. The surrounding agricultural areas will also contribute to biodiversity by converting to organic farming and maintaining cereal crops.

Thus a situation of risk has been transformed into a prospect of protection and growth for habitats and species. An important achievement that we hope will become a model to be replicated elsewhere.

 
Foundation quote excerpted from the press release at the time:
 
<<Thegoal that the Capellino Foundation together with the environmental associations WWF Provincia di Grosseto, GOM Gruppo Ornitologico Maremmano "A.Ademollo" had set itself was to keep the reserve public and convince the private sector to make the Open Marsh functional for the stopover of large migrators and the reserve itself. It was a diplomatic success made possible thanks to the sensitive intelligence and foresight of Federico Vecchioni (CEO of BF Spa) who, after long negotiations, was convinced first to give the 215 hectares of the nature reserve in concession to the Province for 90 years, and finally for 50 years another 150 hectares of the Open Marshes on which the Capellino Foundation is ready to bear the costs of transforming them into wet meadows and then handing them back to the reserve for their maintenance.>>
 
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