24 Apr 2023

MY EXPLORATIONS IN THE FOREST

I remember like it was yesterday when I went among the rhododendrons to pick blueberries and my mother, an expert mushroom picker, instructed me; when at dawn I used to go up with my grandfather in the shadows of the trees to reach the hut or when I climbed up into the forest with my father to get the wood... that was my playground. And now it's still like this, we don't have parks, roads, gardens, we leave the house and we're in nature, we are the woods!

When I was a child they took me with school to plant trees, now those trees are a forest, and I teach to my daughters to keep it clean. In exchange we get the wood to warm up our house and we use it to walk, to run and to dream. And it has always been like this, since Middle Age, in order to protect our natural resources, our landscape, and not to depopulate the mountain. But what kind of mountain do we want? In the Alpine rural world, communities have rules, collective properties for civic use, the ones I tell you about during our beautiful outdoor activities.

Those who do not live off these resources idealize virgin, wild forests and mountains populated by non-human presences.

But we are mountain people, proud of it. We have lived here for centuries.  The perfect coexistence between man and animals, to be more precise between men and large predators (bears and wolves) is not easy. It's about making choices that are not completely compatible between the two worlds and finding compromises. I love my world and I fight to keep it intact in its beauty, my choice of life is a proof of it. I don't disown it for the conveniences of the city, I don't go to concrete gyms. I practice my activities from one village to another, on the mountains, in the flowery meadows, on the peaks, along the paths. An infinite, sparkling, early morning, open-air nature that I have been proudly showing to our Explorers for years: my gym!

Before making my voice heard, it seemed right to me to wait a few days to respect the mourning of the family and of an entire community. The mountain person is a concrete person, they treasure the past and plan for the future. I can say that I have never met bears visiting the woods every day, in all seasons, alone or with our guests. I love and respect all the fauna present in the area, including the bear, an animal that was in extinction and needed to be protected. Trentino has accepted the reintroduction challenge, now the presence of bears and wolves is a reality and must be managed with containment tools. Let's not forget that those who live in the mountains guarantee the balance of the territory also for the plains and cities. We have an anti-bear protocol, let's put it into practice, avoid risky areas and enjoy the beauties of this valley, respecting and loving it as our ancestors taught us!

Attilio, MONROC trekking guide.