Today, at the ISPRA headquarters in Rome, the 2024 edition of the Report "Land consumption, territorial dynamics and ecosystem services" has been presented by the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA), which ensures the monitoring activities of the territory and land consumption.

The loss of ecosystem services linked to land consumption is not only an environmental problem, but also an economic one: in 2023 the reduction of the "sponge effect", i.e. the ability of the soil to absorb and retain water and regulate the hydrological cycle, according to estimates, it costs the country over 400 million euros per year. An "expensive soil" that comes alongside the other costs caused by the loss of ecosystem services due to the decrease in habitat quality, the loss of agricultural production, carbon storage or climate regulation.

Overall, land consumption still remains too high, although with a slight decrease compared to the previous year and continues to advance at the rate of approximately 20 hectares per day, covering new 72.5 km2 (a surface area as large as all the buildings in Turin , Bologna and Florence). A lower growth compared to last year's figure, but which is still above the ten-year average of 68.7 km2 (2012-2022) and only partially compensated by the restoration of natural areas (just over 8 km2, due in largely to the recovery of construction site areas).

On the occasion of the presentation of the Report, the winning images of the 2024 Photo Contest "One shot to tell the story of change" will be presented.

Program

Video

Photo gallery

Summary

Regional data

Main data at regional, provincial and municipality level