From 2015 to 2020, forest cover in Italy increased by almost one percentage point (from 30.8 to 31.7 percent), more than in any other country in Europe, and above nations with a traditional forest vocation such as the Germany (31 percent) and Switzerland (31 percent). This was announced in a statement by the NGO Ambiente Mare Italia (Ami), on the occasion of the National Tree Day, which is celebrated on Sunday 21 November.
About 30 percent of the planet's land is covered by woods, the NGO recalls, for a total extension of almost 4 billion hectares. However, FAO sources warn that on average 5.2 million hectares of woods and forests are lost every year. In 2019 alone, 26 million hectares were lost.
According to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis),
102,933 hectares of land
were
burned
in our Peninsula from the beginning of the year to July
. The situation has been worsening since August, due to the continuous fires that have hit the peninsula and in particular the South, reaching a total of 158,000 hectares.
According to the 2021 Air Quality Report of the European Environment Agency (Aea), in 2019 our country was the first for the number of deaths from nitrogen dioxide, about 10,640 in 2019, and is the second after Germany for the risks from fine particulate PM2.5, 49,900 deaths.
"Our country needs widespread and shared urban and peri-urban forestry policies - warns the President of Ami, Alessandro Botti -. Urban and peri-urban forests are the solution for combating nitrogen dioxide pollution and allow for a clear improvement of the quality of life ".
Amazon: + 22% deforestation in the last year, a record since 2006
. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased nearly 22% between August 2020 and July 2021, compared to the previous period, setting a record for the past 15 years, according to an official estimate released on Thursday. Deforestation in the world's largest rainforest totaled 13,235 km2 in the period 2020-2021, the highest since 2005-2006 (14,286 km2), according to data from the National Space Research Institute's PRODES deforestation monitoring system ( INPE) of Brazil.
Italy, 158,000 hectares of woods burned in 2021
.
In the summer of 2021, 158,000 hectares of woods burned in Italy
.
Of these, 40 thousand were in areas protected by the Natura 2000 Network, the network of protected areas of the European Union, hit by 510 fires.
87% of the events took place in Sicily, Sardinia and Calabria.
This was revealed by the Legambiente 2021 Forestry Report, released on Thursday on the occasion of the National Tree Day, Sunday 21 November.
In the last ten years the wooded area in Italy 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.
But the new Forest Reference Levels adopted by the European Commission envisage that, keeping the current forest management methods unchanged (age and intensity of cuts, forest renewal methods, species collected), between 2021 and 2025 the amount of CO2 absorbed in forests and wood products in Italy will decrease by about 7% compared to the reference period 2000-2009.
Green areas in the areas built in our country represent just 7.8%, and the latest Istat data on public green spaces in Italy reveal a substantial stagnation in the provincial capitals, with a national average of around 3%.
Just 8 out of 109 (7%) are the Italian capitals that claim to have drawn up a Green Plan.
"As shown by the fires of the summer of 2021, adequate policies are needed to protect woods and forests, so it is enough to delay the approval of the National Forest Strategy - declares 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 ".
