Under the fleece
by Christian Velcich
portfolio shortlisted call 'URBANAUTICA INSTITUTE AWARDS 2022', 2022
Category: People and Communities
The Zeri Valley is an ancient mountain crossroads located in Lunigiana, a borderland between Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria. Here one can still breathe ancient traditions, live in harmony with natural rhythms, and a community of women shepherds is dedicated to a silent and slow type of farming. The consortium of which they are a part, "Valli di Ziri" is dedicated to preserving, while continuing to breed, the prized native breed of sheep, the zerasca, of which there are today about 3,000 specimens, a number that fully inscribes it among the endangered breeds. Among their goals also purpose the preservation of the environmental heritage with the reintroduction of ancient crops and rural building rehabilitation. A life choice dedicated to sacrifice, where freedom is not linked to disengagement but to caring for others. A return to the origins to protect biodiversity and under the banner of a deep bond between man, nature and animals.