Fond of Italia Nostra Onlus (no profit organization) – Trentino division

Italia Nostra is a national organization for the protection of Italian historical, artistic and natural heritage. During the sixties and the seventies it had always been on the front line in dealing with problems relating to the protection of the valley of Tovel lake. Over time, the association has carried out countless battles mainly regarding the urban and environmental situation of the Valley.

The first records on the protectionist actions by the association date back to 1967 during protests on the construction of the road to Malga Flavona, a great objection was also made regarding the construction of the sewerage system and houses around the lake. In particular, the association considered the residential settlement as a main cause of the degradation of Lake Tovel and the loss of its redness colour as well. In the archive there is evidence of the various actions led by the association, some of these in particular against the construction of the road to Malga Flavona (carried out by Francesco Borzaga, the secretary of the association). Among the papers is the decision of 3 November 1972 with which the Italian Council of State upheld the appeal by Italia Nostra against the Autonomous Province of Trento, establishing for the first time the legitimacy of Italia Nostra to represent and defend in a court, in accordance with its own statute, the national public interest. A valid point despite how things eventually transpired as following an appeal by the Autonomous Province of Trento against the joint sections of the Court of appeal which annulled the decision of the Council of State and in the audience of 26 January 1978 the joint sections made the provincial resolution of 23 July 1971 enforceable.

Anyway, the road to Tovel Valley and of Grosté was not carried out, despite the agreement of the scientific community.

Most of the protectionist battles carried out by Italia Nostra, as well as the countless events that involved the lake and the Valley of Tovel, are well documented in an extensive collection (the most important part of the archive from a quantitative point of view) dedicated to the press review which forms the series “Centro di documentazione ‘Alberto Agostini’”.

In this series, Val Genova and Tovel Lake stand out for their sheer volume, among the thematic boxes.

National and especially local newspaper articles cover a timeframe from the second half of the 1960s to the twenty-first century.

They refer to different issues:

The debates between the then director of the Natural History Museum, Mr. Gino Tomasi, and the Planning and Landscape Committee of the republican party about houses and huts placed on the shores of Tovel are dated back to 1969. (Selezione Rassegna 1969).

Following, a selection of articles from national and local press concerning the years 1968 to 2000is proposed.