The « extraordinary journey on earth » of Margherita Paiano: « I show everyone the wonder of nature »

«As a child I kissed the earthworms to save them from the grandfather’s hoe. Then, I discovered that Darwin also studied them with admiration. I was right: they were special. I have never stopped wondering on the planet and feeling the need to protect him. I live in forests, wild and croissant ». As Margherita PaianoTurin born in 1992, graduated in evolution of animal behavior and man, explains to Corriere della Sera As he decided to tell the online ethology between posts and videos: «It helps us to Recognize the beauty of meetings with the living and feeling part, and not masters, of the world. As Pier Paolo Pasolini would say, when nature seems normal to you, it’s all over ». That for ethology is not, however, it was an early vocation: «As a child I didn’t even know that this work existed. Nobody had ever told me about it, as happens with the astronaut or the doctor. I felt divided between art and connection with other animals, Two very different forces, but both deeply mine. A connection that has become stronger and stronger. When I enrolled in a veterinarian, I felt I approached, but I was not yet in the right place. Then, in the second year, a lesson that illuminated me came. It was the entrance door to the animal world that I had always sought, « he recalls. From that moment, Paiano has never stopped, eager to explain to everyone what is hidden behind our behaviors or those of other animalsand return to make everyone feel of the planet we live.

A fundamental aspect of his stories is the presence on the field: «I never stop exploring and studying. The field, experience and practice are irreplaceable assets. It is thanks to the direct experience that you can really understand the reality with which you work, face challenges with awareness, build concrete solutions. Some things cannot be taught. The notions are an indispensable basis, of course, but what really transforms us is experience. We need feelnot only of know. Otherwise, we will never really understand some things », clarifies, dreaming of being able to be for those who follow her (and not only) that guide on which to count to » find their pack and orient themselves on this extraordinary journey on Earth « . Social social players play a fundamental role in his profession from the beginning: «I decided to make the only tools that I had at that moment fruit: an iPhone and social networks. A project at zero cost », smiles. «Social social networks allow everyone, indiscriminately, and for me the right to knowledge must be equal. Of course – he recognizes – it was not easy to learn to use accessible language, especially starting from an academic training, based on a technical and formal language. It was just finding a right balance between being simple without ever and then never, losing scientificity. Today people get informed mainly through social networks, and this requires a huge sense of responsibility on our part, of those who communicate », clarifies.

In his « extraordinary journey on Earth », Paiano several times has also found himself working on contrast to Fake news: «A clear example concerns wolves and bears in our country. A few months ago I read an article that defined the Canis lupus italicus (or Apennine wolf) as an « alien species introduced in Italy ». But the wolf has always been there, it is an integral part of our ecosystems. Only in the 70s, with rifle strokes, we almost risked making him disappear from the planet. This is historical ignorance, consciously used to feed fear», He recalls, highlighting how » safety and public well -being are reached only by offering concrete tools that report in real time the presence of wild animals – such as spray, bells, cameras, apps – to protect us and live with biodiversity. And with the support of the many expert colleagues who are always available to precisely tell the world of nature and can educate to coexistence ».

We therefore close with a provocation: Why do we have to continue to wonder about nature? « Why not?! In some native languages ​​there is not even a word that separates us from trees, rivers, mountains or other animals. There is no word for « nature » because, when we pronounce it, we are already creating a distance: we are separating our bodies from that other body, bigger, which is the mother. Let’s think about « nature » as something external to us, but We still cannot understand that without her, we simply die, we do not exist. Some native populations use expressions such as « Living spaces »the so -called Kichwa. Thus, they recognize every single being like a living being with rights, feelings, a personality. Someone with whom we are related. And only by building a relationship, do we start having a heart and we learn to take care of it», He underlines. At a time when climatic crisis, smog, Marine Littersoil consumption, malagestation of waste are among the main threats for the planet and biodiversity today, we all have a responsibility: « Recognizing » nature « as »Kichwa« It is the basis for everything. Our problem is not the lack of solutions. As a species, we are extraordinarily full of ability: we have been boasted for millennia, and often we even feel superior for this. The point is that we do not really want to solve these problems. We still think that there are more important, more urgent things. However, if the mentality changed at the base, if our way of looking at the world changedthen we could find a solution to any environmental problem, « he concludes.