Mayor underlines Rome’s credentials as greenest city in Europe.
Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri on Friday launched an “unprecedented” forestation campaign, with the goal of one million new trees throughout the metropolitan area, including 800,000 in the city.
Speaking at a general assembly dedicated to green spaces, the mayor said that Rome has a “tremendous responsibility as the greenest city in Europe”, boasting 85,000 hectares of parks, historic villas and agricultural land.
“We estimate that this represents more than two-thirds of the city’s surface area, and 340,000 trees are under direct public responsibility”, Gualtieri said, adding: “Forestation campaigns haven’t been carried out for many years, and this is certainly the largest.”
Gualtieri, who recently announced his intention to seek a second term in office, described the project as “an extraordinary opportunity to once again become a leading city, not only in the fight against climate change, but also to restore a new relationship with nature and improve the quality of life of Romans.”
Regarding the possibility of incorporating greenery into areas around heritage sites, the mayor clarified that the “protection of monuments is essential, but a city centre as large as Rome needs more greenery”.
“In an era of intense heat and climate change, urban greenery is increasingly vital” – Gualtieri said – “so incorporating it into areas around monuments is very complex, but it is possible if done with attention, care and the participation of the scientific community”.
The tree-planting campaign comes amid an ongoing threat to Rome’s iconic pine trees from pine tortoise scale insects, with critics accusing the city of not acting fast enough, or not acting at all in some areas, to deal with the crisis.
The city also came in for heavy criticism this month for felling dozens of cypress trees around the Mausoleum of Augustus and for chopping down a landmark Ginkgo tree in Villa Borghese.
In both cases, city authorities said the trees were diseased and at risk of falling, and promised that they would be replaced.
