Jeff Barrington's Puglia Connection Blog

Puglia says “no” to drilling for oil off Tremiti Islands

As UNESCO weighs declaring the Tremiti Islands, a major tourism site off Puglia’s Gargano promontory, a protected World Heritage Site, regional and local officials as well as tourism organizations and environmentalists are banding together to oppose any plans to drill for oil there, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (http://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/) reports. Reportedly, the Ministry of Environment has decided to let an Irish company explore “the seabed off the coast of Gargano (to determine) whether or not there are conditions for installing wells,” La Gazzetta reports. One official told the newspaper, “the people of Tremiti, the province of Foggia and the Region of Puglia will oppose with all their strength to the idea of drilling.”
It would be a shame to give an oil company drilling rights to what La Gazzetta describes as “one of the most important environmental assets of Puglia.” The islands also are among Puglia’s richest tourism assets and their economy is 100% tourism based. Yes, Puglia’s economy could use the boost that oil drilling could potentially generate, but not at the expense of ruining one of Puglia’s most significant natural resources.