Access To Land
Coop. Le Terre di Don Peppe Diana is a buffalo milk cheese cooperative factory in Castel Volturno, Campania Region, which has been installed on Camorra mafia confiscated land. The creation of the cooperative has been fostered by the activities of Libera and is part of the Libera Terra project.
'Libera (Freed). Associations, Names and Numbers Against Mafia Organizations' was created on March 25, 1995 with the purpose of buttressing civil society in its fight against mafia organizations and with the hope of promoting legality and justice. Currently Libera coordinates more than 1600 regionally-based associations, groups, and schools
committed to constructing political-cultural and organizational synergies, synergies which will spread a culture of legality.
A crucial part of Libera is Libera Terra, Confiscated Properties. Libera Terra ('Freed Land') was created with the aim of developing stunning but historically 'difficult' territories. After a social and productive rehabilitation of assets freed from various mafia groups, the organization aims at obtaining high quality products, which respect both the environment and the dignity of its workers. But Libera Terra also plays an active role by involving other producers, who share the same principles, and by promoting organic farming more generally.
In Italy, law n. 109/96 provides for the granting to third parties - private organizations, cooperatives, municipal, provincial and regional administrations - of all property acquired through illegal activities. The third parties then return them to the community by converting the properties to socially beneficial uses. During the years since its passing, the law has converted to use for the community more than 4500 real estate properties (apartments, villas and lands). Confiscated lands in Sicily, Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Lazio have been taken over by cooperatives and produce olive oil, wine, pasta, taralli, legumes, preserves and other organic goods sold in shops all around Italy.
Coop. Le Terre di Don Peppe Diana and Libera Terra in an important best practice regarding access to land for two main reasons:
– first, it shows how civil society can claim social use of public assets (the law 109/96 was endorsed also thanks to the 1.000.000 signatures collected by Libera);
– second, it underlines how the good use of land benefit the whole society.
Castel Volturno
public - managed by the National Agency for the administration and the destination of seized and confiscated from organized crime items
Cooperative
cooperative partners,
Libera Terra
Cheese dairy
