FAO and Italy’s Carabinieri join forces for the protection of the environment, forests, biodiversity
14 June 2017, Rome – Italy’s Carabinieri police force and FAO have agreed to strengthen cooperation in protecting the environment and biodiversity, the sustainable management of wildlife resources and the safeguarding of forests, including combating illegal logging.
This follows an agreement signed today by the Commanding General of the Carabinieri, Lt. General Tullio Del Sette and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
The partnership comes after the incorporation, as of January 2017, of the former Italian State Forestry Corps into the Carabinieri, giving the latter responsibility for the protection of Italy’s forests and its ecological resources, together with that of contrasting illicit agri-food activities.
The partnership with FAO aims to facilitate and enhance the exchange of technical knowledge and expertise, to foster institutional capacity development, technology and experience transfer with each other, and with other countries.
The FAO Director-General Graziano da Silva underlined that “The MoU with the Arma dei Carabinieri will strengthen the existing, strong cooperation with the Arma dei Carabinieri and in particular with the former Corpo Forestale dello Stato. To tackle the impacts of climate change, prevention is the best thing we can do. This is crucial to preserve forestry, the environment, biodiversity and food safety, in short to address food insecurity, our global mandate.”
"We know the importance of FAO in the world and its capability. Carabinieri Corps is the first police to sign an agreement with FAO in this area and we are proud to provide FAO with our expertise to contribute to the protection of the environment and biodiversity, the sustainable management of wildlife resources and the preservation of forests”, said Lt. General Tullio del Sette.
According to today,’s agreement joint FAO - Carabinieri activities could involve exchange of experts, training and study visits, joint seminars and conferences and exchange of technical knowledge and information. Apart from Government officials other, non-state actors, including NGOs, civil society organizations, academia and research institutions, the private sector, producers’ organizations and cooperatives may also participate in the activities.
