On September 25, the closing ceremony of the 2nd edition of the course “Environmental Protection and Restoration in Post-Conflict or Crisis Areas”, held from September 14 to 25, 2026, took place at the Center of Excellence for Environmental Protection. The course was attended by 9 senior ministerial and government officials representing member States of the African Union: Ethiopia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Somalia, Sahrawi, Ghana, Comoros, Algeria, Angola, and a representative of the Organization “Southern African Development Community – SADC”.
The course was organized within the framework of the agreement between the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security and the Arma dei Carabinieri, aiming to provide strategic and operational tools for safeguarding and restoring ecosystems in geographical areas marked by instability or post-war crises.
During the training program, participants examined international biodiversity agreements, UN climate strategies, and environmental protection in peacekeeping missions, with a significant focus on combating environmental crimes such as poaching and protecting threatened species under the CITES Convention. In-depth sessions were dedicated to the crime of wildfires, combating them using the best available technologies, and the environmental restoration of fire-damaged areas. For this purpose, at Mount Vesuvius National Park, the key activities carried out by the Carabinieri Biodiversity Unit of Caserta and the Carabinieri Vesuvius National Park Unit were presented.
Training activities and field exercises were also conducted at the Carabinieri Biodiversity Unit of Fogliano and the Carabinieri Circeo National Park Unit, as well as at the Malagrotta landfill where, thanks to the collaboration of the Extraordinary Commissioner for Land Reclamation, participants analyzed the timelines and procedures for regularizing and rehabilitating areas devastated by illegal waste management.
The program concluded with group work developing three scenarios to simulate crisis situations and devise appropriate solutions based on what was learned during the course, followed by the awarding of certificates of participation.