Protecting and Promoting the Gardesane Lemon Houses Initiative
An effort to keep alive “attention on the Gardesane lemon houses” comes in the wake of the conference held in Desenzano at the initiative of the Commissione Pari Opportunità and the Comune di Desenzano.
A call to action, as revealed by Maria Ida Germontani, president of the Desenzano City Council, encouraged by all participants in the roundtable at the conference, because “all administrations and institutions should undertake, within their competence, urgent initiatives for the protection, conservation, and enhancement of the Gardesane lemon houses”.
Authorities will also need to “promote and finance a sector plan for the lemon houses” aimed at defining regulatory tools, implementing exemplary projects, establishing guidelines and intervention and management criteria, and creating a Ecomuseum of the lemon house landscape.
Finally, they should “keep the focus on the Gardesane lemon houses” through conferences, meetings, events, and exhibitions to encourage such interventions and to prepare the appropriate documentation to include this landscape in the Heritage at risk list compiled by Icomos or in the World Monuments List of 100 Most Endangered Sites (the global list of sites of great value) and to explore the possibility of drawing it up for inclusion by the competent authorities in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
It is worth noting that the rupestrian engravings of Capo di Ponte are included in this prestigious list.
Conservation status and threats to the lemon houses
Indeed, the Gardesane lemon houses represent a unique system of cultivation and architecture in the world.
The degradation of many of them has raised alarm; however, it must be acknowledged, in the spirit of full disclosure, that the Montana Community has done and continues to do a great deal for their protection and promotion.
There is, however, a risk that the Gardesane lemon houses could be “converted” into urban planning operations that are not entirely transparent.
Examples are not lacking. One such case involved a former regional councilor of Lombardy who was investigated, along with operators from Garda, for allegedly having constructed something in a lemon house in some way.
