FLORENCE, Italy – Eighty percent less lions in Africa, from 200 thousand to 30 thousand in just 40 years due to legal and illegal hunting and the anthropization of the territories: these are the latest numbers provided by the environmental organization IUNC (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) on the dramatic decline of the “forest king”, a symbol of virtue and positive qualities among many cultures.
In order to raise awareness on this issue and to prevent the possibility that the animal might disappear in a 10-15 years time frame, Caffè Corsini, leading company in the food and beverage market, in collaboration with Aria Adv agency and with the patronage of National Geographic Italia will launch the campaign “I love lions”, on the occasion of “The State of the Union” international conference which will take place in Florence (May 5-7), promoted by the European University Institute.
This project, in the following months, will release a short movie tied to an international fundraising for the no profit association Wildlifedirect (wildlifedirect.org) a non-governmental organization founded in 2005 by Richard Leakey which is committed in the protection of wildlife heritage like an important global heritage.
This short movie will try to address and recount the problem in a poetic way, in order to generate strong emotions, explaining that the only living being that is threatening the lion, the human being, is also the only one whose able to help it.
An international speak off and the implementation of authorial music over extremely evocative images, will be the main features of the opera which will have the goal to let the community reflect on what the real risks in Africa are if no concrete actions will be taken.
“I love lions” is born from an idea by Michele Pecchioli, communicator, photographer and photo reporter; among his collaborations, the one with Giò Pomodoro for the Biennale in Venice as well as those with Jannis Kounellis, Milo Manara, Andrzej Dragan, Paolo Sorrentino and Tiziano Terzani, just to name a few.
The initiative is related to a donation tied to the sales of the “Kenya” line products by Caffè Corsini.
“The idea comes from the will to give back something to the land of origin of coffee, Africa – say the promoters of the campaign – we are open to collaborate with every partner whose willing to share with us this project of awareness.”
To remain up to date on the initiative, please visit www.caffecorsini.it.
The lion (Panthera leo) is the symbol of Africa (“Hic sunt leones” is what our ancestors used to write on the maps of undiscovered parts of Africa): once, it used to populate all of it but nowadays the lion’s area has been reduced to the sub-saharan part, mostly Kenya and Tanzania, where several sub-species that are considered vulnerable live
