It comes as no surprise that the Lazio TAR has upheld the appeal against the “no hazelnuts” order of the Mayor of Grotte di Castro, given that it was deficient in some legal respects. The appeal was presented by the nut producer “Assofrutti” and by a farm in San Lorenzo Nuovo.

The main objective of this order (and a similar one by the Mayor of Bolsena) was to signal a desire to protect the territory from the spread of new intensive crops, potentially harmful to the environment.

Assofrutti and the trade associations did not want to accept this signal.

At this point all that remains is for the municipalities to make rules and regulations to provide what TAR requires, that is a “serious, scientific basis to justify why hazel plantations could harm the environment”, which would make it necessary to limit “the freedom of private sector initiatives”.

We have this “serious scientific basis”: we have the example of Lake Vico where the link between damage to the environment and the spread of hazelnut cultivation has been demonstrated by the work of the scientists of UNITUS (University of Viterbo). In addition, we have laws and directives that control the use of pesticides, and give priority to the protection of the ecosystem of Lake Bolsena. We remind you that the lake is a Natura 2000 site, a Special Conservation Area and a Special Protection Area where an environmental impact assessment of any project is mandatory.

We also have all the scientific data that allow mayors, as the first civil protection authority in the area, to intervene in defence of citizens and the environment by banning the use of glyphosate in their municipalities.

The verdict of TAR should, therefore, motivate the municipalities to draft a shared document, to effectively protect the territory against the unsustainable impact of an industrial and speculative agriculture.