Interest and participation for Symposium on power lines and birdlife

On March 26, 2025, the Symposium on “The Prevention of the Risk of Electrocution of Birds” was held in Rome, organized by E-Distribuzione as part of the LIFE MILVUS project and also broadcast via live streaming.

An attentive, interested and participatory audience attended the symposium proceedings, which were opened by a detailed and knowledgeable speech by Dr. Vincenzo Ranieri, CEO of E-Distribuzione, which was followed by the contribution of Dr. Eugenio Dupré, Section Chief Office Division III - Biodiversity Strategy of the Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition.

General Giorgio Maria Borrelli, Commander of the CITES Regiment of the Carabinieri Corps, also brought his greetings.

Speakers at the event were Luca Pelle (Aspromonte National Park Authority, responsible for the LIFE MILVUS project), Alessandro Andreotti (ISPRA), Anna Cenerini and Guido Ceccolini (Biodiversità sas), Noemí Rueda García (MITECO Ministry for Ecological Transition of the Spanish Government), Andrea Tecci and Francesco Vescio (E-Distribution).

The main issues addressed in the symposium were:

• the LIFE MILVUS project, objectives, ongoing actions and results to date;
• general framing of the phenomenon of bird electrocution, references in international conventions, causes and possible mitigation measures;
• species vulnerable to electrocution in Italy and their conservation status;
• impact of electrocution of birds in Italy, most dangerous lines and supports, recorded events inherent to species of conservation concern;
• the experience of Spain (state and regional legislation on power lines and birds, measures to prevent electrocution, and sources of funding for power line upgrades);
• power line isolation interventions by E-Distribuzione in Italy, main projects and target species;
• line isolation work in Aspromonte National Park by E-Distribution as part of the LIFE MILVUS project;
• proposals for a bird electrocution prevention and mitigation strategy from the multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach, which first and foremost favors case ascertainment and information acquisition to create risk maps and identify priority areas and power lines where to focus adaptation efforts.

At the end of each talk, a question time facilitated participants' interaction with the speakers, in-depth discussion and debate on various topics. A space for discussion was also dedicated at the close of the event, with contributions from Luca Morabito, Environment and Sustainability Manager at E-Distribuzione.

The eight symposium presentations are available for download in PDF format in the Documents Section of this Web site either individually or grouped in a single file (https://lifemilvusproject.it/en/en-documents/).

The video recording of the Symposium can be viewed here https://youtu.be/_BCoA9t9MiU