We want a lively and liveable lake

20 May 2025

Lake Garda is not just a tourist destination: it is home, it is history, it is identity, it is the future. It is a landscape that speaks to us, an environment where nature, history and community have been intertwined for centuries. It is a common good that we want to preserve.
This is the starting point for the initiative of the Veronese WWF, which illustrates and motivates it as follows:
‘The Garda territory and its hinterland are experiencing a rapid and unsustainable transformation, which risks compromising what makes this place special: its authenticity and natural beauty. Cementification and soil consumption are replacing banks, olive groves, meadows and woods with overly invasive tourist residences and infrastructure.
Biodiversity is being increasingly reduced, the landscape is losing a piece every day. The beauty and ecological balance of a delicate territory are at stake. The excessive flow of tourists is transforming the lake into a large amusement park that produces huge profits for a few and numerous inconveniences for everyone else. This phenomenon translates into fewer services for those who live in the area all year round, making it increasingly difficult for communities and tourists to live together.
Traffic is heavy, there is a lack of adequate parking spaces for residents, and public transport is inefficient. There is an increasing difficulty in guaranteeing the continuity of water and electricity supply during the high season.
Unsustainable rents and rising prices prevent young couples, families and seasonal workers from finding a home or continuing to live there. All this compromises the quality of life and the tourist experience.


The lake is suffering
The current collector, which conveys sewage to the Peschiera purification plant, is inadequate and insufficient. Pollutants often spill into the lake, especially during heavy rain. Additional pollutant loads are generated by watercourses from the hinterland. The health of the lake depends to a large extent on the naturalness of its shores, which to a large extent have been artificialised with the creation of roads, promenades, bathing areas and the laying of the old collector.
Unfortunately, the remaking of the collector, together with long stretches of the new cycle path, will also cause further damage to this delicate and precious ecosystem.
The gradual disappearance of the reed beds, an essential habitat for filtering water and for the life of native fish fauna, is disappearing. Instead, alien and invasive species are increasing. Due to climate change, the temperature of the waters of Lake Garda, both surface and deep, is increasing. A phenomenon that creates further risks for the health of the lake.


The demands
We are not ‘against’ tourism, nor are we against development. We are in favour of a new balance, one that puts people and the environment first, one that creates lasting prosperity, not just immediate revenue.

 
Our priorities for the territory
- Stop soil consumption: no more new cement pours.
- Defend our remaining agrarian landscapes, meadows, olive groves and forests.
- Before building any more, let us recover empty, abandoned or underused spaces.
- Promote slow tourism, which respects the identity of the territory and generates value for those who live there.
- Guarantee the right to housing: affordable rents, stop second homes, more solutions for those who work in the area.
- Strengthen public transport services, incentivising clean energy services. - Rethink territorial policies by involving local communities.

Our priorities for the lake
- It is urgent to continue with the construction of the new collector, laying the pipes on the roadbed and not on the banks, where this is still possible.
- Progressively implement the modification of mixed sewage systems, separating black water from white water.
- Renaturalise the riparian strip where possible, reconstitute new reed colonies, protect biodiversity and encourage the return of native species.
- Promote in-depth and ongoing studies of water quality and biodiversity in relation to climate change.
- Reduce private motorised navigation by limiting the number, speed and power of vessels. Enforce the obligation to respect distances from the shore.
- It is absolutely necessary to manage Lake Garda in a unified and coordinated way. Its waters and critical issues cannot have administrative borders

An event for everyone
This initiative is promoted by associations, groups and citizens from Veneto, Lombardy and Trentino who have been active for years in defence of Lake Garda and the invitation to participate is addressed to all those who live, work, frequent and love the lake.
We want this event to be a moment of celebration, participation and creativity. Bring your banner, your colours, your ideas. We invite young people, families, associations, tour operators, farmers, artisans, students, enlightened administrators. Join us on 7 June 2025. Because the future of Lake Garda concerns everyone.
Adhering to the initiative are: APS IL Carpino - Garda Futura - Garda Terra Nostra Madre - Italia Nostra Verona - Legambiente Verona e Baldo-Garda - WWF Veronese ODV - Lake Garda Interregional Coordination.
 

Read the full article in Garda Post https://www.gardapost.it/2025/05/18/vogliamo-un-lago-vivo-e-vivibile/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKZC6dleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETB5dXg3dk54U1FrY1RVb1VvAR686PjkgtVt_V1SH_BYoPdyrWZtL5mHRyFdTF9AACUptNDnrPiUoxFADA0PYQ_aem_81gKZhx33BFFn_I9Sd8tNw