Facilities
Information Center of Monte Rufeno Nature Reserve
The Nature Reserve has two information points: the first one is situated along the road Statale Cassia in the premises of Torre Julia de Jacopo (a medieval building, access gate to the Town of Acquapendente facing the City of Rome). In Torre Julia, the Information Point lies next to the Info Point of the Municipality of Acquapendente and a sale point of local products.
The second one is situated at Casale Monaldesca (a structure of the Nature Reserve, used as holiday house and trattoria), near Trevinano country hamlet in the northernmost section of the protected area.
Firefighting
Monte Rufeno Regional Nature Reserve commits itself every year to develop the program of activities against wood fires. In order to do this, it avails itself of the Technical Office equipped with specialized staff. Besides safeguarding the 3000 hectares of the Nature Reserve, the staff of this office also intervenes, when necessary, on the remaining part of the territory of the Town, reaching in cases of emergency the adjacent Towns. In order to make the service more complete and efficient, a fire sighting tower has been placed on the top of Monte Rufeno. About 18 mt high, it gives the possibility to control a wide area including all the Municipalities of Comunità Montana Alta Tuscia Laziale, that is the Municipalities in Tuscany - Piancastagnaio, San Casciano dei Bagni, and Castell'Azzara - and those in Umbria - Castel Giorgio, Castel Viscardo, and Allerona. This public utility service - which, since it became operating it allowed immediate interventions on hotbeds which could have destroyed considerable local wood surfaces - is supported and promoted by Public Authorities. In recent years, parallely to the prevention and safeguard of the wood heritage, the firefighting service has become more and more important, both because the increasing number of tourists makes the fire risk higher, and because there is a more direct exposure of people to fires. In order to sensitize the public opinion, Monte Rufeno Nature Reserve and the Town of Acquapendente in collaboration with Comunità Montana Alta Tuscia Laziale and with the National Forest Service of Viterbo has promoted initiatives to inform the population living in the Reserve of the risk and of what to do in case of fire sighting.
Information Point on Organic Agriculture
Monte Rufeno Nature Reserve as opened an information point
managed by an Agronomist specialized in the field of Organic
Agriculture. The service is guaranteed at the offices of Monte Rufeno Nature Reserve two hours a week, on Wednesday afternoon, from 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.
The
activity of the Information Point mainly consists of providing the
farmers the technical assistance related to the application of the
organic cultivation and breeding method and to the legislation
regulating this field. Moreover, the expert will support the farmers in
the bureaucratic activity (helping to fill in the registers according
to the current legislation, notifications, etc.). The farmer will also
have the opportunity to learn about the new funding possibilities and
about the benefits according to what established by the rural
development plan 2000-2006 of Regione Lazio. The Information Point on
Organic Agriculture represents a new element in a territory where there
is a considerable presence of firms using this method (there are 500
hectares dedicated to organic agriculture in the territory of Comunità Montana Alta Tuscia Laziale),
there are no specific points of public assistance for the field. This
service is an important link between the public and the private fields.
Moreover,
within the activities of the Information Point there is also the
organization of congresses and seminars addressed to Farmers and
consumers.
