Page 237 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

ment in all its forms which has grown out of the work done over decades by
the Carabinieri in its areas of special responsibility and for a century or more
by the State Forestry Department in its efforts to protect our forests and the
biodiversity of the natural world.

It is no accident that there should have emerged a need to create a new
organisation alongside the Carabinieri, with a new command structure, respon-
sible for the protection of our forests, environment and agriculture, and
responsible to the Minister for Agriculture and Forestry and, for matters rela-
ting specifically to the environment, the Ministry of the Environment. This
organisation will benefit from our presence throughout the country, making it
possible to deal with problems where they occur, in forested areas, national
parks and wildlife reserves, and to protect our most valuable natural resources.

This two-day conference is the continuation of an important process not
only for the Carabinieri, but also for our country and its commitment at an inter-
national level. Indeed, last year in Rome on the 23rd and 24th of October a semi-
nar was held on ‘International Humanitarian Law and Modern Warfare’ which the
President and Vice President of the International Court of Justice took part in,
along with the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and twenty
of the leading experts from around the world in international humanitarian law, in
front of an audience made up of teachers and students from our leading univer-
sities, as well as trainee officers and officials from the Italian Police Force. The
seminar, which took place in this Carabinieri Officer School, saw speeches by the
Home Affairs Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister.

The work of the seminar which took place six months ago aroused great
interest, and achieved notable success internationally. Some things have already
been published in the Rassegna dell’Arma, while others are in the process of
being published by the University of Oxford.

Well, we are preparing to announce a second seminar on humanitarian law,
to be held next autumn, in the hope that it can become an annual event. In the
same way, with the good will and co-operation of everyone, the Environment
Conference can also be repeated next spring, here once again at the Officer
School, our Atheneum, the ideal setting in which to play host to cultural initia-
tives of such importance. My thanks to the Commander, General D. Vittorio

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