A declaration of intent between the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and Sogesid was signed at the Farnesina, in the presence of Deputy Minister Edmondo Cirielli, for the definition of an operational and functional model for environmental remediation and regeneration interventions in contaminated areas. In detail, a pilot project is planned in the area of the Aral Sea hydrographic basin, which involves the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The initiative is based on water and soil contaminated as a result of anthropic activities, with the aim of recovering terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, reclaiming soils and restoring stands, with a view to preserving biodiversity and food chains.
The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation pursues its action by orienting its interventions towards environmental sustainability, in response to climate change and the needs of environmental protection, depollution of water and soil, the rehabilitation and regeneration of components, organic and inorganic, of the Biosphere.
Sogesid, a wholly owned state company, boasts consolidated experience in technical-specialist support to central and local administrations, as well as at an international level, through planning and management of complex environmental initiatives, including the remediation of polluted sites, the protection soil and hydrogeological risk management.
The initiative took shape with the last Italian Presidency of the EU – Central Asia High Level Conference on Environment and Water, co-chaired by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Edmondo Cirielli, who set the objective, among others, to contribute to the green transition as well as to the achievement of the environmental sustainability objectives of the Region, with an inclusive approach also towards institutional actors and civil society.
“The environmental problems that have been plaguing the Aral Sea basin for decades now have become part of the geographical and scientific literature of the so-called environmental and climate crisis, which, at a global level, the entire human community faces and to which it must give concrete answers,” declared the Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Marco Riccardo Rusconi. “With this signature, the Italian Development Cooperation System offers its technical-operational contribution in a cross-border area, in which the impact of the effects of climate change must be managed transversally. The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation deals daily with the issues of environmental recovery and inaugurates a new scope of application, linked to the depollution and regeneration of territories that represent a risk to the health of both the ecosystem and local populations. ”
“Cooperation at an international level represents a key tool in combating the effects of climate change and for the protection of the most fragile and exposed ecosystems such as the Aral Sea basin“, declared Errico Stravato, CEO of Sogesid S.p.A. “Like Sogesid, we are proud to be part of this ambitious project and to systematize the experience and specialist skills of our technicians to work together with all the actors involved in the integrated environmental regeneration of such an important site. In this regard, a fundamental aspect will be to guarantee protection and the correct management of a crucial resource for the entire area such as water with the aim of avoiding the risk of desertification and restoring contaminated areas with a view to the present and future sustainability of the entire basin”.
