From the majestic lakes of Lombardy, to the golden sunflower seeds of Tuscany, down to the deep blue oceans of the Amalfi Coast, and the rugged mountains of Sicily, Italy is a land of endlessly diverse natural beauty. A new photographic exhibition titled Obiettivo Terra – Mission Earth, on view at the United Nations, and organized by the Fondazione UniVerde and the Società Geografica Italiana, captures the sheer variety of Italy’s flourishing ecosystems.
“Everyone knows that Italy is the country of monuments, art, food, history, fashion, and design, but very few people know that Italy is the country in Europe with the most biodiversity,” stated Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, president of the Fondazione UniVerde, at Tuesday’s exhibition inauguration. The country is especially famed for it’s protection of flowers and animal life, including bears, wolfs, and birds.
The photographs selected for the exhibition are the winners of the 2015 Obiettivo Terra competition. The show constitutes the first exhibition to celebrate Italy’s natural beauty and commemorate the country’s resolve to preserving its countless ecosystems, and maintaining the greatest system of national and regional parks in Europe. It is important to recognize the vital role that Italy’s biodiversity plays in augmenting tourism, and therefore bolstering the country’s economy.
Additionally, according to the Italian Ambassador Inigo Lambertini, Italy’s biodiversity not only makes the country unique and attracts tourism, but it must also be understood that without the effort and attention that is put into caring for Italy’s ecosystems, the land would fail to harvest the fresh, high-quality meat and produce that make up Italy’s rich culinary tradition.
