Presentation of results 2008 and new projects at the annually tortoise party
The 19th edition of the tortoise party has been a great succes with almost 400 participants, many coming from Massa Marittima and surroundings. Also the sun did its best and it was a pleasent late summer day.
RANA and CARAPAX inaugurated the new didactical expo for biodiversity and herpetofauna, nainly concentrated on Tuscan herpetofauna and snakes, which are all protected by law since 2000 in Tuscany. RANA wants to improvve by this exibition the negative reputation most snakes have aklso in tuscany while in reality they are harmless and also at risk of extinction. We use the good reputation of the chelonians to improve the bad reputations of theiur cousins the other reptiles! There was a lot of interest and satisfaction.
During the afternoon a children animation was organised which had quite a great success and so at evening in massa and surroundings many children with a tortoise or Stork face walked around!
At 5 pm the RANA group and the Dutch Turtle Foundation presented the new TORTUCA project : TORtoises and other Reptiles and TUrtles Conservation Actions and CAptive breeding .It will become a hugh exotic rescue and breeding centre to be realised in Scarlino in Tuscany. At the preparation of this project have collaborated many experts from Europe (Italy, France, Switserland, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic) and the USA.
A basis agreement has been reached with the American company HUNTSMAN and the Italian company NUOVA SOLMINE who's direction was present at CARAPAX and with Italy's largest greenhouse builder SERRE CAMPIONI. The project foresees the intake and rescuing of many exotic reptiles like crocodiles, chelonians, lizards, monitor lizards, snakes. It will be a professional rescue centre for CITES authorities to place confiscated herps.The necessity is becoming higher and higher with the new ligislation and the new expected EU directive on allochtone faune. For the CARAPAX Centre also this will be a solution as it contains already more than 16.000 Chelonians, 60% of which are exotic species.Moreover it will give CARAPAX and the other Mediterranean Centres the possibility to stick more on their speciality: Mediterranean threatend species.
The basis of the project is a land management project of 2003 involving the EU, the Italian Ministry of Environment, the Tuscan region, the SOLMINE group with a total budget of 6.3 million Euro.
The principle is simpel: we use the hot water (not polluted) of the 2 industries to heat a mega green house that will be build on industrial ground.
The greenhouse will host 3000 reptiles. A part will be open to the public, while another part will be reserved for breeding of IUCN red Data list species.
The partners are international, the main partner being French specialised in the keeping and breeding of Crocodiles, the British Chelonia Group (already involved with the red ear rescue scheme) and the Dutch Stichting Schildpad.
The total investment for the new project is around 5 million Euro. the project will give work to 35-50 persons and some 200.000 visitors on year basis are foreseen.
The TORTUCA partners presented already in 2005-2006 the project in it's embrional phase (SWC) at the Maire of Scarlino and got the support of the special councellor to the Italian Minister of Environment and the Belgian Minister of Environment who visited peresonally the area.
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