Save Anzio's shore, and the rest of Italy too....

Dear English-speaking friends, first of all, I’m sorry we’ve neglected you… those of you who’ve been following us since November are probably wondering what happened to us since I haven’t translated any of our articles during the past months. You probably thought: “are they dead or what?” Nope, we’re not dead, but the stretch of coast right is front of Anzio, where we live, is. They’re killing it. Every day, since February, one piece at a time. But let’s go back to the very beginning. 

In February, in Anzio, which is a town on the coast of Lazio, near Rome, public works for the protection against coastal erosion started.  The coast of Anzio certainly needed some kind of intervention in this sense, so what’s the problem? The problem’s the solution they’ve found to the coastal erosion issue. Basically, they’re building a sort of Chinese wall!!! 

Click on the photo to enlarge....

When we realized that the works were starting, we decided to see what they were doing and managed to find the relevant coastal erosion plan. And what we found out was shocking!!  The plan envisages building 15 100-meter-long stone groynes (and this wouldn’t actually be that bad) which are all connected together by a 4.5 kilometer long, 10 meter wide underwater stone barrier (and this is bad!!!) . This barrier is going to be only 50 cm. below mean sea level,  which means that a person standing on it would be in shin-high water.  Since this barrier is going to be 10 meters wide and made up of huge stones and rocks, which will probably be full of seaweed and very slippery in no time, it will be impossible to cross.  The other point that I’d like to stress is that this barrier is going to be 4.5 km. long!!!!!! The whole stretch of coast of Anzio.  There will be a 200 meter distance between the 15  groynes and the plan envisages building 100 meter x 200 meter cells, as they call ‘em.  Surfing’s going  to be impossible.  

But that’s not the only drawback: even swimming will be a problem and this plan also poses great risks not only to swimmers, kids etc. but also in terms of safety. Lifeguards will find it very hard to rescue someone from drowning.  The barrier will entail poor water quality (and marine pollution), thus greatly impacting tourism. And, despite what many may think, it won’t help replenish our narrow beaches. But the fact is that all these issues, all these problems (including safety, tourism, environmental impact, beach replenishment, etc.) are not taken into account. At all. The only variable the plan considers is coastal erosion. Nothing else.  The plan is by ARDIS, the Regional Territory Defense Agency, and the funds are of the Lazio Region.  The construction works are divided into three parts, each envisaging building 5 groynes in a 1.5 km long stretch of sea.  Works for building the first 5 groynes and the first 1.5 km long barrier started in February.  Since then, Green Ocean Surfing, together with other local surfing associations, have been fighting this, in every possible way. 

All our articles have been dedicated to this one and only  massive and urgent problem. WE’VE GOT TO STOP THEM!!!!!  We tried talking to the Mayor of Anzio and the local public administration to make them realize that building a “Chinese wall” in a town that lives on tourism and on the sea is insane. We tried to convince them that the underwater barrier will pose risks to swimmers, boats (stricken boats will have no possibility to be rescued or to reach shore), etc. and to ask the Regional administration to modify the plan so as to only build the 15 groynes. We asked an engineer and a marine biologist to study the problem and write a technical report. Together with other local associations, we managed to draw the interest of the media, and on Monday morning, April 11,  a TV show talked about the issue. But it’s not enough!!! We’ve got  to find a way to stop them. We’re not saying that nothing should be done to protect the coast from sea erosion, but there are other ways, other eco-friendly methods that do not have such a great environmental impact. But, of course, these are not even considered as feasible solutions. 

We just wanted to update you on the issue which, even though is a local problem, might interest you, since solutions like this are adopted across Italy and all around the world. We’ll keep you informed, but if you have any ideas as to what might be done to fight this insane plan or if you have any information that you want to share with us about other interventions of this kind that have been undertaken in your city or town, please write to us and let us know.  

 STOP IT!!!!

greenoceansurfing