FROM TIRO TO TRICASE, A LEBANESE DELEGATION AND EXPERTS FROM PUGLIA, TOGETHER, FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEA AND THE COAST

Tricase has been hosting, since last April 26 and until April 30, 2023, a Lebanese delegation, coming from the city of Tire, for a mission aimed at learning about and comparing the virtuous experiences already achieved in the Salento peninsula in the field of marine and coastal monitoring and planning. The delegation is led by the Mayor of Tire and composed of representatives of the Union of Municipalities of Tire and the Coastal Action Group Tyros LAG. She is also accompanied by Dr. Rosa Maria Dragone of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

The activity is part of an institutional capacity building process aimed at contributing to the sustainable and resilient territorial development of the coastal and marine area of the city of Tire through the formation of a participatory system of territorial planning and the implementation of the related pilot actions.

The initiative is part of the activities of the BLUE TIRE project – Local partnership for sustainable marine and coastal development, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation – AICS, led by the Municipality of Tricase and carried out in partnership with active Apulian realities such as Cooperazione nei Territori del Mondo – CTM, the University of Salento, the Naturalia Cooperative and the Magna Grecia Mare Association.

The project also sees the important collaboration of Città Fertile.

The project is aimed at local authorities and communities to meet the need to implement adaptation and prevention measures for risks associated with climate change and to have environmental monitoring and marine and coastal waste management services.

The delegation, hosted by the Municipality of Tricase and the Magna Grecia Mare Association, met the Apulian experts and visited the Port Museum of Tricase, an international reference model and good Italian practice of sustainable development. Furthermore, during the mission, they had the opportunity to visit the facilities of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies – Di.S.Te.B.A. of the University of Salento, the Natural History Museum of Salento and the Calimera Sea Turtle Rescue Center.

Thanks to the BLUE TIRE project, Tricase strengthens its ties with Lebanon, which has already been a guest of the Port Museum of Tricase several times thanks to the presence of CIHEAM Bari, an important international body which, through its headquarters in Tricase, has been operating for years in the entire basin of the Mediterranean and beyond to share experiences of intelligent and lasting enhancement of coastal communities and territories.