Opponents say stadium project threatens local ecosystem.
Plans by Italian Serie A football club AS Roma to build a new billion-euro stadium in the Pietralata district of Rome could face an unexpected obstacle from birds and bats.
Neighbourhood committees opposed to the construction of the massive sports facility have filed a petition to the Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR) which is set to rule on the case on Wednesday.
The petition centres on the felling of 26 trees which, according to the committees, threatens an ecosystem home to a host of birds and bats, several of which are protected species.
Rome city authorities have authorised the felling of the trees in the Pietralata woods to make way for archaeological excavations ahead of the stadium’s construction.
The request in front of judges is to suspend the city’s authorisation to chop down the trees and to appoint a third-party body to verify the extent and environmental importance of that area, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
The committees argue that the 26 trees facing the axe are part of a protected natural habitat, an ecosystem inhabited by various animal species, a claim backed up with a study by environmental experts from the National Research Council of Italy (CNR).
Flavia Sicuriello and Paolo Colangelo of the CNR’s Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Institute used bioacoustic monitoring systems to record 41 bird species, seven of which are protected by European legislation, and six different bat species.
The birds identified as living among the trees include warblers, woodpeckers, song thrushes and nightingales – species associated with mature forests and well-structured undergrowth – while the report stated that the presence of bats “confirms the importance of the Pietralata Forest as a refuge and foraging area for urban bats”.
Bosco di Pietralata. Photo Corriere della Sera.
For its part, the administration of Rome’s mayor Roberto Gualtieri has promised that an “enormous green park” would be built in place of the Pietralata woods.
The city has asked AS Roma to create an ecological and environmental system with accessible green areas, including “naturalistic” areas, totalling almost 93,000 square metres, including the planting of more than 800 new trees.
The stadium project has already faced several delays, since resolved, relating in particular to traffic and mobility in the vicinity.
Designed by Populous, an international architectural studio specialising in sports facilities, the stadium will have a total capacity of 55,000 seats, which can be extended to 62,000.
The proposed facility, located near Tiburtina station, is set to become Roma’s permanent home after having shared the 72,000-seater Stadio Olimpico with local rivals SS Lazio since 1953.
Roma has said the completion of works is scheduled in time for the 2028/29 season.
If all goes according to plan, the new stadium should be ready in time for the 2032 European Championship that will be held in Italy and Turkey.
