There is no future without an effective fight against those who sow death and degradation and profit at the expense of communities and their territories. This is the Ecomafia 2017 report as told by the president of Legambiente.
For 24 years, with the Ecomafia report, we have been documenting the fight against eco-criminals. We do this by bringing together worlds and sensibilities that might seem different, getting them to talk to one another, and creating a shared space for the good of the country. It is a book that is never the same twice and reminds everyone, year after year, that liberation from the ecomafia and from environmental crime is the precondition for every other truly green revolution, and that there is no possible future without an effective fight against those who sow death and degradation and profit illicitly at the expense of communities and their territories.
For all these reasons, the Ecomafia report by Legambiente is a book that brings together and engages magistrates, law-enforcement officers, entrepreneurs, associations, politicians, officials and citizens, who for once find themselves on the same side — albeit with different nuances — taking stock of the figures and stories in the report and trying to provide concrete answers. This year, to honour the commitment of all those who fight every day to protect our common home, we chose to dedicate the volume to the memory of our friend Valerio Verri, a volunteer in Legambiente's environmental surveillance service who was killed in Portomaggiore, in the province of Ferrara, while trying to protect his territory from poachers and illegal fishermen.
This year's figures, in brief, show that environmental crimes are slightly down, although 25,889 were still recorded, and the ecomafia's turnover has also fallen, amounting to around 13 billion euros, while arrests (225), charges filed (28,818) and seizures (7,277) have all increased. These are the first clear effects of law 68, which in 2015 incorporated environmental crimes into the penal code. The law has made enforcement action more incisive — as demonstrated by the rise in arrests, charges and seizures — and enormously strengthened its deterrent effect on the most unscrupulous businesses, which now face serious consequences, both in criminal and civil terms (as the overall drop in offences shows). The guarantee of impunity has been consigned to the attic, and businesses that want to remain in the market must bring themselves into compliance. This is the principal objective of law 68. An objective that has, for now, been achieved.
Despite this, the most stubborn enemies of the environment remain active on the ground. Among them, the mafias and corruption — two sides of the same coin — which in 2016 once again confirmed their role as the leading actors on the environmental crime front. This year we counted another five active clans, bringing the overall total to 331 mafia families involved, while the army of the corrupt and those who corrupt them continues to inflict environmental damage and plunder the length of the country, not only in the four regions with a traditional mafia presence (which accounted for 44 per cent of all offences in 2016), but above all in Lazio, Lombardy and almost the entire North. In the past year and a half we have counted no fewer than 76 major investigations in which corruption was used as a skeleton key to commit environmental devastation, with 1,140 people arrested or charged. There is also an urgent need to stop the hand of arsonists, who in the past year burned down more than 27,000 hectares of woodland (with a dangerously rising trend), of thieves of cultural heritage (570 thefts recorded) and of the killers of Italian agri-food made in Italy, active above all in the supply chains of extremely high added value associated with protected brands (around 40,000 sanctions imposed, between criminal and administrative offences).
Furthermore, this edition has once again forced us to confront an assault that is increasingly being carried out in national parks and protected areas — those richest in biodiversity and natural beauty — and with illegal construction that spares no corner of the country, even if the south records its worst performances: according to estimates by Cresme, another 17 unlawful buildings were erected in the past year. With the additional discordant note of demolitions stuck at a standstill, despite a few generous positive examples, such as in the municipality of Licata, in the province of Agrigento. And we must not forget the fight against illegal shopping bags, a genuine threat above all to marine ecosystems, and the widespread illegality in the management of livestock, where inspections are lacking (covering only 0.6 per cent of all active farms) and the risks to public health seem to lurk perpetually just around the corner. There is still a great deal to do, in short, even though the direction we have taken is the right one, and we will be the first to walk it and stand guard over it. As ever, for more than thirty years now. On the side of the people who have been polluted.