The Adda sopralacuale river and its ‘Contract’

The Adda supralacuale river crosses the Valtellina, which collects water from the Rhaetian and Orobic slopes and then flows into Lake Como. In 2019, the ‘Contratto di Fiume dell’alto bacino del Fiume Adda’ (River Contract of the Upper Adda Basin) was signed, an initiative promoted by the Sondrio-based Valtellina Mountain Community for the enhancement and redevelopment of the basin, which, however, did not include many municipalities in the valley bottom among its signatories. The River Contract also provided for a planning action entitled ‘Greenway of the Adda’ for mapping all multifunctional river areas (i.e., capable of providing various ecosystem services).

A digital and innovative participatory pathway.

As part of the LIFE Gestire 2020 project, on behalf of ERSAF, Etifor managed a participatory process for the implementation of the “Greenway dell’Adda” action of the River Contract to define a supra-municipal ecological network functional to the conservation of biodiversity in Valtellina. The cycle of five meetings involved 15 local authorities, including the Province of Sondrio, municipalities and mountain communities in the valley bottom.

Held online due to the pandemic, the course adopted innovative participatory mapping techniques to identify interventions for the development of the Greenway, both from the recreational-cultural-tourist and ecological-environmental points of view.

Etifor then identified the funding opportunities for each intervention and drew up a summary document for developing the Greenway in lower Valtellina.

Results

• Increased sensitivity of the Local Authorities: all the participating Authorities have acknowledged the synthesis document by resolution and have committed to collaborate in the search for funding to implement the framework of interventions;
• Strengthened the existing governance initiative: all the local authorities that were not initially signatories of the River Contract have expressed, again by resolution, their interest in joining it based on the projects that emerged during the participatory process;
• Submitted a project to the Cariplo Foundation’s Climate Strategy call for proposals (November 2021) by the partnership composed of the Morbegno Valtellina Mountain Community (lead partner) and the municipalities of Morbegno and Talamona. The almost €2 million in co-financing requested from the Foundation included some actions already identified and present in the framework of the Adda Greenway.

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