PIAZZA ANTONIO DELL’ABATE 4
73039 TRICASE LECCE
info@savetheolives.org
The first time Xylella was reported in Apulia in 2013, few people believed that it could cause the desiccation of more than 21 million olive trees.
Today, the entire area of Salento (in southern Apulia) has completely changed shape, the lushgreen landscapes of olive forests have turned into endless expanses of dry trees.
A landscape of death, which month after month is moving towards the north of Apulia and hasalready reached the Piana degli Ulivi, the only place in the world with the highest density of centuries-old olive trees, which are now in great danger.
More than that, Xylella Fastidiosa has been listed as one of the main phytosanitary problems in the entire Mediterranean area because it is moving very rapidly and there is a real risk of it spreadingto countries with a strong olive-growing vocation, such as Spain, Greece and Tunisia.
Despite this awareness and the scientific evidence, few people are aware of the problem.
Save the Olives ONLUS is a non-profit organisation of volunteers tackling the Xylella Fastidiosa epidemic in Apulia, southern Italy. Detached from politics, far from polemics and indifferent to conspiracy ideas, we act together in a millenary landscape trying to concentrate the forces of the interested parties to raise awareness and educate the inhabitants of the attacked territory.
We are agronomists, farmers, artists, engineers, students, businessmen and researchers, but above all we are great defenders of our land who believe in a sustainable future for the olive culture.
Financial support for the most deserving research projects aimed to facilitate and accelerate the process of selecting new Xylella-resistant olive tree species and promote good agronomic practices.
Training courses to teach correct grafting practices on monumental olive trees, constant awareness raising through various actions and projects on the importance of early grafting which, as of today, is the only solution that can save the monumental olive trees of Puglia.
We believe in the birth of a modern olive growing, based on new plantings and new native varieties of olive trees resistant to Xylella, in order to give new life to the territory and to the olive sector which is suffering today.
Save the Olives ONLUS is a non-profit organisation of volunteers tackling the Xylella Fastidiosa epidemic in Apulia, southern Italy.