In this year's annual contest organized by FAI, the Italian Foundation for the Environment (the Italian National Trust) to find members' favourite monuments or beauty spots in need of conservation put Monte Pisano top of the list.
Over 2.2 million people voted in this ninth edition of the Place of the Heart, which showed a swing towards nature conservation. The 1200 hectare Monte Pisano di Calci e Vicopisano territory (Pisa) was devastated by fire last September leaving the mountainside bare. Fortunately, the adjacent 14th century Certosa of Calci was miraculously spared.
The runner-up was the badly polluted River Oreto of Palermo, followed by the ancient Porretto Terme spa (near Bologna). The list of places and monuments to be saved ran into hundreds, demonstrating the lively interest Italians all over the country take in their local cultural heritage.
Since the institution of the Places of the Heart contest, the FAI foundation, with the backing of the Intesa Sanpaolo bank, has promoted 92 conservation projects in seventeen regions, in addition to a vast number of smaller, privately financed initiatives.
Info: Tel. +39.02.4676.15303 www.fondoambiente.it - international@fondoambiente.it