It’s official. The Capellino Foundation and Almo Nature Benefit Spa march into action at the side of Doctor Massimo Vaschetta’s Hedgehog Recovery Centre, “La Ninna”.
Thanks to the collaboration, Holistic will feed the over 400 hedgehogs at the Hedgehog Recovery Centre La Ninna. Lost, sick or injured, these hedgehogs will be temporarily cared for and fed throughout the winter before being let free in the spring. Hedgehogs too weak or disabled will, however, have a permanent home at the centre.
Almo Nature Benefit Spa, producer of high-end pet food, is 100% owned by The Capellino Foundation. After having made a careful comparative analysis, it is this food producer which Doctor Vacchetta chose to provide food for the hedgehogs. His choice was inevitable. Almo Nature’s product quality is second-to-none. It uses only natural raw ingredients and it has a cruelty free mind-set which distinguishes it from its competitors.
We will very soon see this collaboration enlarge as the other European associations already linked to “La Ninna”, become involved, through Project Paradise”:The aim of Project Paradise is to fulfil a dream: the dream to create protected nature conservation areas for all wild animals. Areas where La Ninna's hedgehogs can be freed and supervised. Areas where biodiversity can be preserved for all generations to come.
To quote Massimo Vacchetta, “Investing in nature to protect its ecosystems so that biodiversity can survive - this is the sense of Paradise” .
“I am particularly happy to say that I have decided to commit myself wholly (to the project) until the time comes that at least one Paradise sees the light of day inside our grounds at Villa Fortuna, San Salvatore, Monferrato” concludes Pier Giovanni Capellino.
Despite their different life stories, Pier Giovanni Capellino and Massimo Vacchetta share a concrete action system: they both prefer to involve themselves in practical endeavours without too much hype. Indeed, it is the force of silence which tends to disarm and hit straight to the heart.
And it is a very different style from the fanfare of communication which has now become so popular whenever the theme of sustainability is mentioned (green washing as we like to think of it).
There are the three pillars that hold up the collaboration between The Capellino Foundation, Almo Nature Benefit SpA and the Recovery Centre for hedgehogs, “La Ninna”:
1) Individual responsibility for our common home, the planet Earth
2) Respect for each and every form of life
3) Commitment to make a difference in every small detail
The History behind the partnership
A few months ago, The Recovery Centre for hedgehogs, “La Ninna”, contacted The Capellino Foundation to ask for help. They had followed with great interest a series of activities the Foundation undertook during the first phase of the Covid 19 pandemic. One in particular, Project AdoptMe captured their imagination. They quickly understood that the Foundation and especially its Restoration Economy model had strong similarities to their own organisation.
Their intuition was right and in no time at all a desire to work together developed. Projects were created which expressed a common vision. For starters, both sides know that the unsustainability of the present global economic model and its harmful consequences will require a deep commitment if a different and better future is to be constructed.
The common ground is clear: biodiversity, our source of life, is in great danger and it is we humans who are the cause.
The right time has, therefore, arrived to reverse this tendency. Each of us must commit, in any way we can, to becoming protagonists in the change of perspective, putting biodiversity at the centre of our own choices.
In May 2019 the United Nations raised the alarm with regards to the loss of biodiversity. It stated that in “a relatively short time” a million animal and plant species will disappear from the Earth and the Oceans, a number equivalent to 1/8 of all species on our planet. Population growth, agricultural development, intensive farming, the constant expansion of infrastructure (with its consequent increase in pollution and traffic) and climate change are all responsible for destroying (or breaking down) wild animal habitats. Animals that, as a consequence, find themselves lost and disoriented and unable to survive. Animals that are killed by our hands.
So why the hedgehog? Why has this species become emblematic to our cause and the protagonists of such a wonderful story of collaboration?
According to a recent French study, hedgehogs risk extinction and could be completely wiped out by 2030 due to environmental pollution caused by human activity, (agriculture in particular). Their plight helps us to understand the relevance of the impact man’s ruinous behaviour has on biodiversity “close to home”.
People say, “Home is where the heart is.” We say, “Put our heart into our home,” so we can protect our planet together.
We heartily welcome and applaud the collaboration between The Capellino Foundation, Almo Nature Benefit SpA and the Recovery Centre for hedgehogs, “La Ninna”.