The Center of Excellence for Environmental Protection (CoEEP) of the Carabinieri had the honor of hosting the first edition of the international course “Environment Protection’s Strategies. Basic Course”, held for Officials and Officers of their respective Armed Forces belonging to the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), coming from various countries (Bahamas, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay).
The educational activities stem from the cooperation relations between the General Headquarters of the Carabinieri and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB).
The course alternated classroom lessons with field exercises, where the attendees were able to experience investigative techniques regarding the crime of forest fires and the application of the physical evidence method. Furthermore, thanks to the collaboration with the Commissioner for cleanup of environmental contamination and waste dump for the implementation of the necessary interventions to bring illegal landfills into compliance with current regulations, they were able to observe the regularization processes of an illegal landfill and its subsequent management.
The outdoor activities then focused on the management and protection of habitats and protected species, and on the important role of environmental education in schools, under the guidance of personnel from the Carabinieri Forestry Group of Latina and the Carabinieri Biodiversity Department of Fogliano. This took place in the splendid setting of the Circeo National Park and the Fogliano Nature Reserve, the former a UNESCO MAB site and the latter also home to the Wild Animal Recovery Center (CRAS), which houses numerous animal species that have been injured or confiscated because they were the subject of illicit trafficking.
The closing ceremony, which culminated in the delivery of the certificates of participation, sealed the bond of collaboration between the Carabinieri and the Inter-American Defense Board, confirming the central role of the CoEEP as an international hub of excellence for training and global cooperation in environmental protection.