For over twenty years, together with the Palermo branch of LIPU (the Italian League for Bird Protection), we have been running this volunteering camp, a landmark initiative for environmental protection and civic engagement. Our international volunteers, working alongside the staff of LIPU Palermo and Addiopizzo Travel, are living an experience that combines caring for a nature reserve with Sicily’s historical heritage, between the sea and the mainland.

The project unfolds on two complementary fronts: the work on the island and the activities on land. Every morning, the group makes the boat crossing to the uninhabited island to support the staff of the Oriented Nature Reserve, where the activities are in full swing:

• reconstruction of footpaths: restoring the stone paths destroyed by the storm known as Hurricane Harry;
• biodiversity conservation: repopulating the local flora by planting new species and tending to the vegetation;
• tackling plastic pollution: clearing the coastline of the litter washed up by storm surges and restoring the structures for local wildlife damaged by the bad weather.

On land, the participants’ commitment continues in the name of culture and the rule of law. In collaboration with Addiopizzo Travel, the group supports the activities of MuST23, the interactive museum dedicated to the memory of the Capaci massacre, here the volunteers look after the museum’s green spaces, help organise cultural events and facilitate workshops on the climate crisis, social justice and the fight against the Mafia.

This camp is a generational and transnational bridge, and it continues to show that protecting a territory and keeping memory alive go hand in hand.

Strengthening equality, rights and active citizenship across Europe is at the heart of our work, in the framework of the CERV programme, which stands for Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values. By connecting an environmental project with local justice movements, our network continues to empower young people to become active guardians of both biodiversity and democratic values.