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Ancona, “Atacama” operation: 1000 very rare cacti return to Chile after seizure

The synergy between Italian and Chilean authorities has allowed a historic "repatriation" of around a thousand cacti

Ancona, in recent days the very rare cacti belonging to the Copiapoa genus have reached their destination, seized last year by the Forestry Carabinieri of the CITES Carabinieri Unit of Ancona from the home of two traffickers of protected plants resident in the Provinces of Ancona and Rimini.

The judicial police investigation, which began in 2020 and coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Ancona, concluded in recent days with notifications of the closure of the investigations to the two subjects accused of detention and international trafficking of species protected by CITES, i.e. the Convention International for the Protection of Protected and Endangered Animal and Plant Species. The activity, conducted for several months, made it possible to uncover a network made up of at least 19 foreign and Italian traffickers and collectors, with traffic mainly directed towards Middle Eastern Asian countries.

The extremely rare and delicate plants recovered and taken from traffickers were placed under criminal seizure and initially entrusted to the Botanical Garden of the University of Milano where they were kept in a greenhouse equipped with cutting-edge technologies. After careful evaluations and in-depth studies of a systematic, physiological and phytopathological nature, the repatriation and reintroduction of the plants into their natural environment of origin was considered: this to repair the damage suffered by the ecosystem and because, despite the assiduous care, in our climates were at risk of dying or in any case losing their peculiarities. In this way it was possible to preserve the genetic heritage of these specimens in nature, some of which are present only in small remote stations of the Atacama desert in Chile and are at serious risk of extinction. In fact, in the Atacama there are extreme climatic conditions, where it does not rain for years and the only water available to living beings is that which can be obtained from the humid air that blows from the Pacific Ocean in certain hours of the day.

The synergistic activity between the international and Italian authorities took place on two main channels, of equal importance: on the one hand the investigative one, which allowed a flow of information useful for implementing new activities to combat international trafficking of protected plant species and on the another the scientific one, aimed at safeguarding the precious genetic heritage eradicated from the Chilean land.

On this second line of intervention, by virtue of the numerical consistency and the biological and ecological importance of the seized plants, the investigators requested the collaboration of the Association for Biodiversity and its Conservation of Bologna (www. abc-network.it) , in the person of its president Andrea Cattabriga, naturalist and member of the World Union for the Protection of Nature (IUCN) - study group on cacti and succulent plants (CSSG). The illustrious scientist, in order to avoid their dispersion or death and the consequent loss of a very precious genetic heritage, considered their return to Chile as the optimal solution with the aim of reintroducing them into the natural environment from which they had been eradicated.

Among the authorities involved in the operation, the contribution of Barbara Goetsch of Cambridge (UK), co-president of the CSSG, who oversaw the raising of the necessary funds to carry out the complex and expensive operation and Pablo Guerrero, Director of the PhD in Biological Sciences, was essential , botanical area of ​​the Faculty of Natural and Oceanographic Sciences of the University of Concepción in Chile, who is one of the most important scholars of the flora of the Cactus genus in his country.

Also involved is the Corporación Nacional Forestal del Chile (CONAF), the body that deals with the protection of Chilean natural resources in the person of Bernardo Martinez, director of the Department of Forestry Inspection and Service Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG), the body responsible for protection of Chile's agricultural and natural resources, responsible for issuing import and export permits for agricultural products.

In the first days of April, in the greenhouses of the Botanical Garden of Milano where, in full compliance with the rules against the spread of Coronavirus-19, some ABC members, the director of the Botanical Garden assisted by his team of researchers and employees and some Forestry Carabinieri of the CITES Carabinieri Unit of Ancona worked to label, weigh and package the Chilean cactus specimens with due care and attention.

The departure took place on April 12th and after a three-day flight with a stopover in France, the plants reached the "Santiago de Chile" airport and were delivered into the hands of CONAF personnel to take care of the subsequent stages of the reintroduction into nature..

Illegal trafficking of cacti, according to data released by WWF Traffic, has affected over 100.000 plants in the last 4 years for an estimated value of 3 million dollars. The growing demand for large specimens, collected illegally in the wild, is causing a sharp decline in wild populations, some of which are now reduced to very few specimens.

The "ATACAMA" operation conducted by the Forestry Carabinieri of the CITES Carabinieri Unit of Ancona made it possible to bring to light and eliminate illicit trafficking estimated at around one million euros for the value of the plants recovered and placed under seizure.

As also happened in the context of this investigation, the most recent info-investigative activities conducted at an international level indicate that the most flourishing illegal market in recent times has moved to Japan and China.

However, the aspect of the economic value of illegal trafficking is to be considered minimal compared to the damage caused to the natural environment due to the alteration of the delicate biological balance of the ecosystem and the loss of genetic heritage and biodiversity.

 

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