Coastal erosion is rapidly worsening along Italy's shores, driven by human activities, according to a report by the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). In the area near the city of Fiumicino, south of Rome, over the past 15 years, the beach of Fregene has shrunk by half, forcing authorities to deploy protective measures like nourishment zones and barriers to safeguard shoreline infrastructure from the waters. "From our perspective, this phenomenon, at best, simply shifts the issue from this beach to the beach further north," says Sebastiano Venneri, the head of the department of tourism at Legambiente, an Italian environmental NGO. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES