When we think about protected areas, it is easy to imagine they all work in the same way. We often picture places where people step back and nature is left to flourish. In reality, nature reserves are very different from one another. Laws, international agreements and the scientific community make a clear distinction between the different types of protected areas. Only a small number are classed as strict nature reserves, the type that more than any other reflects the idea of giving space back to wild plants and animals.
Fondazione Capellino which owns 100% of the Almo Nature pet food brand and uses its net profits to fund biodiversity conservation projects, has begun co funding the ecological corridor linking Val Grande and the Sacro Monte di Ghiffa in Piedmont. What makes this project especially important is its location alongside the Val Grande Integral and Biogenetic Nature Reserve. It is one of the few places where almost all human activity is prohibited.
1Fondazione Capellino is co funding the ecological corridor linking Val Grande and the Sacro Monte di Ghiffa in Piedmont. The corridor runs alongside one of Italy's strictest protected nature reserves.
2Projects like this have helped shape the understandting that giving more land back to nature is one of the best ways to protect biodiversity.
What makes a strict nature reserve different?
The idea of protecting natural areas by limiting or excluding human activity is not new. During the 19th century, some European noble families turned their hunting estates into protected areas. Then, in 1872, the world's first national park was established in the United States: Yellowstone National Park, which stretches across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
Not every nature reserve, however, is a strict nature reserve. Many protected areas still allow some human activities within carefully managed limits. People may be able to walk, enjoy outdoor sports, manage woodlands or, in some cases, live and farm there. These places offer important protection for nature, but they are not free from human influence. This is where strict nature reserves are different.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, an organisation affiliated with the United Nations, classifies these areas as 'Category 1, Strictly Protected' Nature Reserves. Their purpose is to keep human activity to an absolute minimum. Hunting, fishing, farming, industry, livestock grazing and construction are not allowed. Tourism is either prohibited or tightly controlled, with visitors restricted to marked paths or accompanied by specialist guides. Apart from a few essential exceptions, even managing the vegetation is avoided. Scientific research is the only activity actively encouraged.
The aim is simple: to allow nature to develop with as little human interference as possible.
The Val Grande Integral and Biogenetic Nature Reserve is the most highly protected part of Val Grande National Park. It provides a safe haven for species such as the chamois and supports a wide range of habitats, from alpine heath to mountain grassland. Altogether, the integral reserve covers 973 hectares.
Half the Earth to the wild, Step by Step
Fondazione Capellino supports several ecological corridors, natural or restored areas that reconnect habitats separated by roads, towns or other barriers. We have already explored why ecological corridors are so important. What makes the corridor linking Val Grande and the Sacro Monte di Ghiffa especially valuable is that it connects directly to an integral reserve.
In places like this, biodiversity, soils, forests, water, wildlife and natural processes are allowed to develop with very little human interference. The aim is not simply to protect what exists today, but to give nature the freedom to adapt and thrive well into the future.
Ihe idea is to restrict human activities almost entirely: no hunting or fishing, no agriculture, industry or livestock farming, and no construction.
Inspired by the example of strict nature reserves, a wider vision has developed over time, one that also guides the work of the Capellino Foundation. Scientists such as the American biologist Edward O. Wilson argued that protecting biodiversity on a global scale would require setting aside much larger areas of land for nature. His Half Earth proposal suggested that protecting around 50% of the planet would give wildlife the space it needs to survive and recover.
We have previously explored Wilson's ideas and the concept of giving half the Earth back to nature. Fondazione Capellino contributes to this vision in practical ways, including through projects such as the ecological corridor in Val Grande.
Because when it comes to protecting biodiversity, not all nature reserves are the same.