Pottering the Po
Another country, another few lessons learned (shower more, eat more roughage), but what I will remember most about Italy will be the people. Yes the views are amazing, the food top notch and the history of the place easily a global top 10 but it’s the people who have been world class. The hospitality, good humour, and genuine warmth I have been shown makes me want to bring a little slice of that back with me to Ol’ Blighty whenever I return. From my first day - eating strange things for breakfast with strangers - to right now as I shelter in a bar from the rain to write this blog, everyone, literally everyone has made me feel welcomed (crisps are on the house here….what a mistake from them).
Venturing into Italy was something I was excited for. After a week alone along the expensive Cote D’Azur the thought of crossing into Italy, and now crossing multiple countries, made the expedition seem somehow more legitimate in my mind. As if this was not just a jolly through France with a mate but an expedition that will ask tough questions of me at times and test my resolve in different ways each day. Central to my route through Italy was following the River Po, once a strong hold to three species of sturgeon: Adriatic (now only found in Italy), European sturgeon (the one I saw in France, and the last known breeding population in Europe) and the Beluga sturgeon, with the Po sadly a remnant of its former self. Dams, poaching and a general lack of awareness has seen both Beluga and European sturgeon extirpated (locally extinct) in Italy, with the Adriatic species solely existing due to good fortune and some future planning by ONE individual.
With the support of Paolo Bronzi of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society, I was fortunate enough to visit Storione Ticino, a sturgeon aquaculture site and home to virtually the last adult Adriatic sturgeon on the planet. Getting there involved going up and over the back end of the Alps (see my other blog) and after a few big days riding arrived to be welcomed by Paolo, and Sergio and Jhon Giovannini, whose father started Storione Ticino. It is by sheer chance that we still have Adriatic sturgeon, as without Sergio and Jhon’s father - who began collecting juvenile specimens when he noticed dramatic declines of them in the wild - they would no longer exist. Earning the title of first sturgeon species to go extinct on our watch.
The visit was extremely educational in understanding different approaches to conservation. Without support from government or environmental donors, Sergio and Jhon have been funding release and national restocking efforts of Adriatic sturgeon through a separate entity that focuses on humane caviar (massaged out rather than killed for it) from Russian sturgeon. The money made from caviar directly goes into breeding and release projects, with a hope and a prayer from Jhon and Sergio that their children will be able to see sturgeon returning to the Po to spawn.
A two day, 200odd km dash eastwards saw me visiting the sister organisation, Agroittica Lombarda, and being toured around by the genius that is Mario Pazzaglia. This facility aims to reintroduce Belgua sturgeon back to Italian rivers through restocking efforts. To see the effort, passion - and sadly in the case of conservation - cost that is being put in to ‘re-wilding’ the Po was inspirational.
Leaving in awe of what is being done, and genuinely excited that people think this expedition is a good idea, a beer with my name was calling me on Italy’s east coast in a town called Chioggia, also known as little Venice. Expecting 30c, melting ice creams and beers so cold they sweat I was reminded of home with 40mph headwinds, litter blowing all over the place and rain due any moment. Did I have pangs for home….absolutely not. Was I miffed that a rest day on the beach and tanning the wobbly chassis was ruled out…you bet.
Italy, you have been nothing short of magical and you’ll always have a special place in my heart….but your crisp game needs improving.
Ciao
x
