Erminio Sipari

Erminio Sipari (1 December 1879 – 28 January 1968) was an Italian politician and naturalist, author of studies on the preservation of nature and founder of Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, which he chaired from 1922 to 1933.

In 1913, when Sipari was first elected in the Italian Parliament, he took the opportunity to draw attention to the real threat of extinction of important species, such as the Abruzzo chamois and the Marsican brown bear, and proposed the creation of a national park in the area of Marsica.

In the same year, he founded the "Ente Autonomo of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo", who leased 5 square kilometres of land to be protected in the district of Opi.

As its president, Sipari argued that the Abruzzo National Park must protect fauna and flora, but also allow the birth of tourism.

He wrote numerous articles on the birth of the National Park and also a comprehensive report, called Relazione Sipari (1926), which at the time was considered the main promoter of nature conservation in Italy.