1140 | 920 | Protected natural area and volunteering: participatory methods for the conservation and enhancement of natural capital. | Lara Fiorentini (1), Francesco Faccini (2)

The topic of nature conservation must overcome the antithesis between men and parks and must educate responsible environmental protection behaviour._x000D_
Volunteering in nature parks represents an opportunity for land conservation, environmental and civic education at the same time, and a true dialogue between man and nature. Volunteering is an opportunity for active citizenship to be involved in nature conservation and an opportunity to promote and disseminate the culture of protected area and environmental sustainability._x000D_
A growing motivation for caring for the commons in general and for the environment can now be observed among citizens. This research proposes an analysis of the implementation of volunteer programmes in Italy’s National Parks, Marine Protected Areas and Regional Parks. The results show the current sensitivity of the sector to the issue of voluntary service for nature._x000D_
The main and most significant Italian volunteer programmes were observed, such as the programmes of the Abruzzo National Park and the Casentinesi Forest National Park. Local stakeholders supporting the project in logistics and mentoring of volunteer groups were interviewed._x000D_
Finally, the research proposes methodological support for park managers to introduce structured forms of voluntary activities for nature into the management system, without additional effort on the part of the organisations. _x000D_
Nature parks can get from this study a project format for solutions that are appropriate to their own context or supplement their current programmes._x000D_

Lara Fiorentini (1), Francesco Faccini (2)
(1) Regione Liguria, (2) DISTAV, Università di Genova

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ID Abstract: 920