158 thousand hectares of forest went up in smoke in the summer just past. And, of these, 40 thousand were in the areas protected by Rete Natura 2000, the network of protected areas of the European Union, hit by 510 fires.
87 percent of the events occurred between Sardinia, Sicily and Calabria according to data from the Legambiente 2021 Forestry Report. The study was released today on the occasion of National Tree Day which falls on Sunday 21 November.
In the last ten years, we read, the wooded area in our country has increased by about 587 thousand hectares, and today it amounts to over 11 million hectares. The carbon dioxide absorbed by our forests has seen an increase of 290 million tons.
According to the Forest Reference Levels that were adopted by the European Commission, keeping the current forest management methods unchanged, between 2021 and 2025 the amount of CO2 absorbed in forests and wood products in Italy will reduce by about 7% compared to reference period 2000-2009.
Green areas in the areas built in Italy stop at 7.8%, and the latest Istat data on public parks reveal a substantial stagnation in the provincial capitals, with a national average of around 3%.
8 out of 109 (7%) are the Italian capitals that declare that they have drawn up a Green Plan.
"As shown by the fires of summer 2021, adequate policies are needed to protect woods and forests, so it is enough to delay the approval of the National Forest Strategy - says Antonio Nicoletti, national head of Protected Areas and Biodiversity of Legambiente -. The announced commitments at COP26 in Glasgow to reverse deforestation must be translated into an integrated strategy, in the broader framework of combating climate change ".
(Unioneonline / ss)
