Nature Conservation Experts from Italy Speak at Colorado State University on Feb. 22

Nature conservation experts visiting from Italy will present "U.S. and Italian Partnership for Nature Conservation: The New Initiative on Marine Protected Areas" as part of Colorado State University’s International Viewpoints: Society and Conservation in the 21st Century lecture series from noon-1 p.m. Feb. 22 in the Lory Student Center Theatre.

The presenters will highlight bi-lateral international cooperation and a sister sanctuary program in development to provide more site-based, detailed interactions among Italian and American protected areas.  

Federico Niccolini, professor at the University of Macerata in Italy, will be one of three speakers. He is a member for the World Commission on Protected Areas of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. He also has worked for the U.S. National Park Service.

The West Coast regional director of the National Marine Sanctuary Program, William Douros, has served as the superintendent of the nation’s largest marine sanctuary located in Monterey Bay, off-shore of central California.

Augusto Navone, the third speaker, is the superintendent at the Tavolara-Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area and is a member of the Albo Nazionale dei Biologi.

Relations between Italy and the United States in the field of nature conservation date back to 1860. In the past 10 years, partnerships between the two countries have been strengthened by formal agreements between the National Park Service, NOAA and the Italian Conservation Service for Nature.

This lecture is sponsored by CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources, the Department of Human Dimensions and Natural Resources and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, call Esther Duke at (970) 491-2197.

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