Sila and Po Cuneese parks candidates for UNESCO list

Sila national park in the southern Calabria region and Po Cuneese regional park in northern Piedmont have been submitted to UNESCO for inclusion in its directory of biosphere reserves, the Italian environment ministry said on Friday. The ministry sent the necessary documentation to the secretariat of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) program at the end of September. Italy already has eight MAB biosphere reserves: Cilento and Vallo di Diano; Circeo; Collemeluccio-Montedimezzo; Miramare; Selva Pisana; Somma Vesuvio and Miglio d'Oro; Tuscan Islands; and Valle del Ticino. Po Cuneese regional park otherwise known as Monviso after the mountain at its heart - has been presented as a candidate for the UNESCO list in conjunction with the neighbouring Queyras park in France. Should the two parks be granted biosphere status they would be united to create the first cross-border biosphere reserve in Europe.