Site of Community Importance IT2030001 Northern Grigna

Northern Grigna (Grigna Settentrionale) is a Site of Community Importance (SCI), in Italian Sito di di Interesse Comunitario (SIC), of Natura 2000, encoded into IT2030001.
Natura 2000 is a network of Sites of Community Importance and Special Protection Areas, a European Union project that stretches for 28 union countries. The Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora aims to promote the maintenance of biodiversity, taking account of economic, social, cultural and regional requirements. It forms the cornerstone of Europe's nature conservation policy with the Birds Directive and establishes the EU wide Natura 2000 ecological network of protected areas, safeguarded against potentially damaging developments.

SIC IT2030001 "Grigna Settentrionale" was identified with D.G.R. n. VII/14106 of 12 September 2003; later, with D.G.R. n. VIII/1876 of 8 February 2006 borders with minor variations have been adjusted.
Its management was entrusted entirely first to Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community, with D.G.R. VII / 18453 of 30 July 2004, then by the Regional Law 2 March 2005, n. 11 institutive of the Regional Park of the Northern Grigna, to the administrator body of the protected area for the portion included within its borders, while for the remaining liability has been attributed to the Administration of Lecco Province. They have thus identified two areas, sufficiently distinct also geographically, one of 990 hectares located north of Cresta Piancaformia, the other of 630 hectares that lies to the south of the same.

1. Natura 2000, en.wikipedia.org
2. The Habitats Directive. EU Nature Law. Nature and biodiversity. Environment. ec.europa.eu

Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community

Italiano

The Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community (in Italian Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino e Riviera) is a mountain comunity[^][^] formed by the union of four areas which includes 25 municipalities in the Province of Lecco.[^]
The Valsassina Valvarrone Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community is based in Barzio, in Via Fornace Merlo 2, in Località Prato Buscante, which is the place where the renowned Sagra delle Sagre is held in August; telephone 0341 910144. The president of the Comunità Montana is Fabio Canepari.[^] The community has a corps of Voluntary Ecological Guards. The Valsassina - Valvarrone - Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community is also the managing body of the Northern Grigna Regional Park. The website of the Muntain Community is www.valsassina.it.[^]

The Comunità Montana aims to enhance its mountain territory, mainly through the conservation of the natural environment and the re-evaluation of the trades, products and lifestyle of the mountain populations.[^]

Coat of arms and list of the 25 municipalities

The coat of arms of the Comunità Montana della Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino e Riviera is a banner made up of 4 golden keys on a blue background, each representing one of the four areas that include the territory of the community, Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and the Lecco Riviera of Lake Como.

The 25 municipalities that are part of the Mountain Community are: Barzio, Bellano, Casargo, Cassina, Colico, Cortenova, Crandola Valsassina, Cremeno, Dervio, Dorio, Esino Lario, Introbio, Margno, Moggio, Morterone, Pagnona, Parlasco, Pasturo, Perledo, Premana, Primaluna, Sueglio, Taceno, Valvarrone e Varenna.[^]

Volunteer Ecological Guards

Since 1982, the Valsassina Valvarrone Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community has had a corps of Volunteer Ecological Guards, in Italian, Guardie Ecologiche Volontarie (GEV), who carry out their duties throughout the entire territory of the Mountain Community. Since the Northern Grigna Regional Park is managed by the Valsassina Mountain Community, the GEV of the Mountain Community are available for the protection of the regional park.

In the Comunità Montana Valsassina, the Volunteer Ecological Guards carry out important activities, such as observing and reporting the presence of threatened or endangered endemic flora and fauna, patrolling and monitoring the territory, to prevent the spread of illegal waste dumps, the information, preventive and, if necessary, sanctioning action for illegal tents and campsites in the park area, unauthorized transits on mule tracks and paths, mushroom picking, protection of protected species. There are currently 9 volunteer guards, recognizable by their uniform and badge.[^]

The Voluntary Ecological Surveillance Service was established with Regional Law no. 105 of 12.29.1980,[^] subsequently updated with the Regional Laws n. 9 of 28.02.2005 and n. 14 of 06.05.2008. The GEV (Guardie Ecologiche Volontarie) or Gev (Guardie ecologiche volontarie)[^] are citizens who have voluntarily chosen to provide a public service to protect the environment, without remuneration for the activity performed.

Regional laws that entrust the management of the Northern Grigna Regional Park to the Mountain Community

The Regional Law in force which entrusts the Regional Park of the Northern Grigna to the Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community is the Regional Law 4 August 2011, n. 12:[^]

New organization of the managing bodies of the regional protected areas and changes to the regional laws 30 November 1983, n. 86 (General Plan of protected regional areas. Rules for the establishment and management of reserves, parks and natural monuments as well as areas of special natural and environmental significance) and 16 July 2007, n. 16 (Single text of regional laws on establishment of the parks)

Article 3 (Special Managements), Comma 2:

The management of the Regional Park of the Northern Grigna is entrusted to the Comunità montana Valsassina – Valvarrone – Val d’Esino e Riviera.

In the previous regional law of 16 July 2007, n. 16, article 189:

The management of the park is entrusted to a consortium between the mountain community Valsassina - Valvarrone - Val d'Esino and Riviera and the Municipalities of Cortenova, Esino Lario, Parlasco, Pasturo, Perledo, Primaluna, Taceno, Varenna.[^]

The Grigna Settentrionale Regional Park is a mountain regional park established by regional law 2 March 2005, n. 11.[^]

Note the proper name Comunità montana Valsassina – Valvarrone – Val d’Esino e Riviera in the declaration of the Regional Law respecting to Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino e Riviera or even Comunità Montana Valsassina Valvarrone Val d'Esino e Riviera.

A bit of history

A mountain community is an Italian local territorial body established by law 3 December 1971, n. 1102[^] and now governed by art. 27 of Legislative Decree lgs. 18 August 2000, no. 267 (consolidated law on local authorities). In Valsassina, the law was welcomed with enthusiasm because it went to give recognition to scattered and uneven local initiatives. The need for discussion and coordination found fulfillment in a Valle Council, chaired by the engineer Pietro Pensa,[^] mayor of Esino Lario since 1956. Three years later, in 1974, the Mountain community n° 16 Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera was born with headquarters in Villa Migliavacca in Introbio, with Pietro Pensa himself as president. In the 1980s, among the delegates of the Comunità Montana with president Alvaro Ferrari[^], the hypothesis of a new headquarters in the vast area of the Fornace Merlo, in the locality of Pratobuscante, which was in a state of abandon, made its way without too much fanfare. On 14 March 1988, the Comunità Montana bought the complex saving the area from building speculation, the president of the community was Claudio Baruffaldi, in office from 1986 to 1992. Today the headquarters of the institution stand on that land between Barzio and Pasturo and host the great events of the area.[^]

Projects

The Mountain Community of Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera, manager of the Northern Grigna Regional Park, participates in numerous projects and plans, including:

• Museo La Fornace,[^] inaugurated in September 2017 inside an old brick kiln from 1890, right next to the headquarters of the mountain community
• Outdoor Valsassina[^] project, a tool to make the area known and experienced
• the Valsassina Cultura portal,[^] in collaboration with the Fund for the development of the Lecco province activated by the member Municipalities of Lario reti Holding S.p.A. and Community Foundation of Lecchese Onlus
• INTERREG project (Italy-Switzerland) for the valorisation of the cultural landscape:[^] Historical Land Registries, Historical Archives, Alpinescapes, Wiki Valsassina
• GAL dei due Laghi,[^][^] the Local Action Group established in 2002 to enhance the natural and tourist resources of the lakes of Como and Porlezza

The present

The trails of the Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera are traveled by hundreds of hikers in all seasons. They don't seem to interest the mountain community of Valsassina because they have been without interventions for years. The mountain community does not stop the progressive overbuilding of mule tracks, not realizing that for just one person who comfortably arrives at the hut with a car or motorbike, one hundred are forced to walk on a surface not suitable for mammals.. I have climbed so many times in Northern Grigna from Pasturo and obviously I have not met a voluntary ecological guard, nor elsewhere. The activity of the mountain community is known for educational panels along the main paths and the signs for Pedalling in the Park.

Almost fifty years have passed since its foundation, which was welcomed with enthusiasm, between the resident population, tourists and all those who live in the mountains and the organization there is no connection. The Mountain Community of Valsassina, and of the other three areas (Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera) has not acquired (or lost) an authority and concreteness of actions to avoid the chronic consumption of the splendid environment entrusted to it by law, voice too weak compared to politicians on duty who sit in the Lombardy Region, mayors of the valley, the first to want to rape the Lecco area to promote blind and unsustainable tourism, local characters with economic interests, outlaws who take advantage of poor controls for their own jobs on public land. Don't be deceived by the participation of the mountain community in numerous projects, facades, old if not dead. The reference websites are only in Italian, which is not the best way to attract foreign tourists. One way to re-establish contact with the population would be to promote cultural events, linked to the territory or for promotional purposes, hosted in its headquarters in Via Fornace Merlo. I imagine concerts, stories about the mountains, which deepen the knowledge of the Valsassina area, make memories and keep traditions alive, other. To gain credibility, an evening meeting with staff working in the mountain community would be useful, providing information on ongoing projects.

Even in 2023, and it seems impossible to have to write it, just as sad, new roads that destroy nature forever, without any advantage for the common good, are being built in the Lecco mountains within the border of the Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community, as like the road that goes up from Morterone towards Resegone.[^] For minor interventions, such as the concreting of the road to Piani di Bobbio in Nava di Barzio two years ago, no protest has been heard from the mountain community.[^]

In Italy, the debate on the real benefit of mountain communities for the territory and the people who live there is open. In many regions they have been abolished, such as Sicily, Sardinia, Molise, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Piedmont; in Lombardy since 2009 they have dropped from 30 to 23.[^]

References

1. "Italian mountain community". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
2. "Comunità montana". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. (in Italian). Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
3. "Comunità montana della Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino e Riviera". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. (in Italian). Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
4. "Il Presidente [The President]". (in Italian). valsassina.it. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
5. "Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino e Riviera". valsassina.it (in Italian). Retrieved 1 September 2023.
6. "L'Ente [The Body]". (in Italian). valsassina.it. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
7. "I Comuni [The Municipality]". (in Italian). valsassina.it. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
8. "Guardie Ecologiche Volontarie [Volunteer Ecological Guards]". (in Italian). In L'Ente. Parco Grigna. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
9. "L.R. 29 dicembre 1980, n. 105.". (in Italian). Edizioni Europee. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
10. "Guardie ecologiche volontarie [Volunteer ecological guards]". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. (in Italian). Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
11. "Legge Regionale 4 agosto 2011, n. 12". (in Italian). In Banca dati delle leggi regionali. Regione Lombardia. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
12. "Articolo 189 - Ente di gestione del parco [Article 189 - Park management body]". (in Italian). In Normatìva. Legge Regionale Lombardia 16/7/2007 n. 16. Edil Tecnico. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
13. "Legge Regionale 2 marzo 2005, n. 11". (in Italian). Gazzetta Ufficiale. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
14. "Legge n. 1102 del 3 dicembre 1971 e s. m. ed i". (in Italian). Regione Abruzzo. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
15. "Pietro Pensa". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. (in Italian). Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
16. "Curriculum Vitae". (in Italian). Studio Tecnico AF. webspace. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
17. Canepari, Cesare (14 March 2023). "Esclusiva: ecco perché la comunità montana sta là. 35 anni fa fermata la speculazione alla fornace di Pratobuscante [Exclusive: that's why the mountain community is there. 35 years ago speculation stopped at the Pratobuscante furnace]". (in Italian). Valsassina News. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
18. "Museo La Fornace". (in Italian). valsassina.it.Retrieved 1 September 2023.
19. "Valsassina Outdoor". (in Italian). valsassinaoutdoor.it. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
20. "Valsassina Cultura". (in Italian). valsassinacultura.it. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
21. "Wiki.Valsassina.it". (in Italian). wiki.valsassina.it.Retrieved 1 September 2023.
22. "Il GAL dei due laghi". (in Italian). In Partecipazioni. In L'Ente. valsassina.it. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
23. "GAL dei due laghi". (in Italian). Rete Rurale Nazionale. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
24. Colombo, Marta (6 September 2023). "Strada Morterone «Più che tagliafuoco sembra a due corsie» [Morterone Road «More than a firebreak, it looks like two lanes»]". La Provincia di Lecco. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
25. RedBar (6 September 2023). "Barzio-Bobbio, venerdì apre la strada col nuovo bitume. Grazie ai volontari e all’aumento del pedaggio [Barzio-Bobbio opens the road on Friday with the new bitumen. Thanks to the volunteers and the toll increase]". Valsassina News. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
26. "Debate". In Italian mountain community. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 1 September 2023.

Signage of the trails

Much of Grignone from 2005 is Regional Park of the Northern Grigna having managing body the Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community that marks the trails of the mountain, and those of the slope of Pasturo, trails traveled by hundreds of years.

The Mountain Comunity adopted a signage similar to Club Alpino Italiano with the unmistakable red and white colors and vertical signage with tables, and takes their place, Club that in the past had marked the trails of the Grigne. Moreover it traced at an altitude less than 1500 meters five cycling routes named Pedalando nel Parco (Pedalling in the Park).

Examining the tables of the verticale signage, mounted on metal poles, by Regional Park of the Northern Grigna and Mountain Community Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera, they are like those of the CAI of the present day with the absence of numbering:

• trails tables in the shape of arrow of size 55 x 15 cm.
• the tip of red with white logo Parco Regionale Grigna Settentrionale
• the tail red with in the middle on white the logo Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino e Riviera
• three lines with the destinations, if there is one in the middle, on the right the travel time
• the location table with its altitude, like at Alpe Cova

Similarly are the tables of Pedalling in the Park:

• top a red plate with a bike that goes up and logo Sistemi Parchi Regione Lombardia (Parks Systems Lombardy Region)
• location table with a white line on gray "Pedalando nel Parco" between two logos Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino e Riviera and Parco Regionale Grigna Settentrionale and below the altitude. I saw at Monteno, Cornisella, Brunino, Pialeral
• trails table with three lines, on each the destination followed by a hyphen (-) and the number of the route, on the right a colored circle

Coexist the old signs of CAI:

• trail table on yellow background, smaller than at present, and without the arrangement of lines, tail and numbering
• arrow engraved in red, white, yellow, white at center larger
• written C.A.I. vertically on the left or on the right of destination(s)

Scattered on trails and crossings arrow wooden signs indicating the destination, some metal, real arrow road signs like two browns at Pasturo in Via Cantellone and Via San Calimero indicating Grigna Settentrionale (Northern Grigna) and Pialeral.

For horizontal signing, the three colors trail markers red white red, or at two red and white, on rocks, walls, and visible points, you see only at high altitudes. Remain faded the old and rare CAI signs red white yellow, or yellow white red, with the number of the trail in the middle.

On Northern Grigna at low altitude there are mixed routes, roads, mule tracks, trails, which connect the locations by car, on foot, by bicycle, motorbike. Mountain Community Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera has traced for hikers the quickest path to Pialeral, and from there you go to altitude and to Rifugio Brioschi, that is from Colle di Balisio, leaving out others above all Sentiero Pasturo - Pialeral; the latter up to a thousand meters of altitude is not part of Park of the Northern Grigna. Bloom signs, usually of wood, or improvised tables that make up for this shortage, some of the refuges, other that divide the path type such at Acquafredda, vehicles on one side and on the other pedestrians. Here and there remains the old CAI's signals with its numbering.
The body that manages the mountain has favored the bike with five itineraries, creating an overlap with the trails, or a part of them, which were already known in another way, and confusion in those who go on foot (which are the majority) in having indicated in only one direction. Useful are its locations tables.

Signs with its stratification reflects the popularity of the Grigne, and for those who go often is nice to see again. It lacks a unified policy with trails marked by CAI on many mountains.