Determined to demonstrate a simpler, cleaner way of travelling, environmentalist and documentary film-maker Giacomo de Stefano and friends navigated Italy’s longest river from Venice to Torino. Giacomo’s voyage had two objectives. The first was to draw attention to the state of this great river, which has been polluted by agricultural and industrial wastes, denuded of natural vegetation, and dammed for electrical power. Second, simply to experience the feeling of freedom that comes from carried by the current. He would also use the wind and the power of his arms to traverse the same route, in the same way, as people did for centuries. He invited anyone who wanted to help out to accompany him. Some who sailed on different stages of the journey were his friends--Roland Poltock, Bruno Porto, a skipper from Brazil, and Damiano Carraro—but he also wanted to meet the people whose lives connected with the Po, to hear what they thought of the river and what has happened to it. He did just that, and more than a few wound up sailing and rowing along with him as well.

The Po is 405 miles (652 km) long, and 1,650’ (503 m) across at its widest point. It runs eastward across northern Italy, from Monviso in the Cottian Alps on the border between France and Italy, to the Adriatic Sea near Venice, going through such historic cities as Piacenza, Cremona, Mantova, Ferrara, Torino and, indirectly, Milan. Because of its connection with the river, the surrounding Padan Valley has grown to become Italy’s main industrial area. It is home to nearly a third of all Italians, and the land is some of the most highly cultivated in Europe.

Flowing through a variety of habitats, the river contains many indigenous varieties of fish: carps, rudds, bleaks, eels, as well as fish that were introduced to the river in ancient times such as the catfish, the sunfish, and the crucian. It also hosts migrating fish, which travel to salty habitats to feed and then return to the river to reproduce. But due to dams that have been built to harness electricity, these migrating fish can no longer reach the stretches where they normally reproduce. The progressive degradation of the Po has made deep changes in the relationship it had for centuries with the surrounding population. Professional fishers can no longer make a living from it, and recreational fishers are turning away as well. “It’s important to put our attention on all of the earth’s water, but especially on the rivers,” says Giacomo. Fresh water is the most important right now, because rivers make up 90 percent of our source for drinking water. Desalinization is costly and time consuming. Though our lives are dependent on them, few people are focusing on the rivers. I admire what Bobby Kennedy Jr. has done in the U.S. with his organisation Riverkeeper. It’s an independent member-supported advocacy group that monitors the Hudson River’s ecosystem, and I’d eventually like to create a similar kind of foundation here in Europe.”