Parisi, let's raise the voice of science to defend forests

"The protection of forests and reforestation actions are fundamental, but unfortunately the actions of governments so far have not been up to par, we must make the voice of science heard": this is how Giorgio Parisi, Nobel Prize in Physics 2021, in his speech at the international conference 'Global Forest and Tree Restoration', organized in Rome by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and scheduled until 12 October.

   "We know from the experience with the Covid-19 pandemic that it is not easy to take effective countermeasures in time", adds Parisi: "Our generation faces a dark and bumpy road, and the light that must guide us is that of scientific research" .

The Nobel Prize winner underlines the importance of initiatives like this to put pressure on governments and push them in the right direction: "we need much more investments that allow us to develop new tools, new technologies and acquire new knowledge. In this enterprise - he observes - international collaborations will also be needed, to understand not only how to carry out reforestation actions, but where ".

Parisi, currently vice president of the Accademia dei Lincei, draws attention to the need for a new approach to forests, which have always been destroyed to allow the progress of civilizations since ancient times.

"We must stop treating forests as a static, immutable thing: trees are living organisms - notes the Italian physicist - therefore they grow, change and evolve over time: we cannot treat them as if they were inanimate objects".

The Nobel laureate concludes by reiterating the fundamental choice that humanity is now facing: "The protection of forests and their recovery is a very important mission, even for science, because we are facing a problem that we have never faced before" .