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FOREWORD
The city of Rome in recent years has undergone profound changes. The conformation of the capital,
with an old town full of archaeological pre-existences, surrounded by a extensive built on the wide
green texture of the
Agro Romano
, gives it a very special situation of climate and environmental well-
being, including the wealth of biodiversity that is the result more evident.
Rome, despite the changes that occurred in recent years, is a "green" city. On a total area of about
129,000 hectares, there are about 43,000 hectares of green and about 50,000 hectares under
cultivation. Historic villas, parks and gardens (public and private) in central part of the city, going
towards the suburbs become nature reserves and agricultural areas.
Thus Rome is the second largest agricultural municipality of Europe with a total of 13.78
sqm/inhabitant of "usable" green. The total of 13.78 square meters/inhabitant is the remarkable
achievement of Capitoline administration due to new acquisitions of green areas and new
afforestazioni and reclamation: if compared to other Italian and European cities the value is certainly
very significant.
Roma Capitale
is committed to protect and enhance the environment, to improve builded areas, to
preserve landscape and natural features of territory.
Through the Environmental Observatory on Climate Change (Department of Environment Protection),
the Administration is partner of Project Turas (Towards Urban Resilience and Sustainability), funded
by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme of Research and
Development.
The project aims to analyze, develop, demonstrate and disseminate scenarios and support strategies in
urban and peri-urban areas to improve policies to mitigate and adapt to the climate change, aimed to
increase the urban resilience compared to the environmental emergencies in place.
Within the project Turas, in collaboration with ISPRA (Institute for the Protection and Environmental
Research) this manual of the "Guidelines for the Sustainable Urban Forestation has been produced.
ISPRA, besides taking care of the interactions between forests and climate change to participate
work of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change) and develops the National Inventory
of greenhouse gases emissions and of carbon sinks.
Regarding the urban characteristic of the problem here considered, specifically from years ISPRA also
conducts monitoring and evaluation of green infrastructure in principal Italian cities, through the
Annual Report on the "quality of the urban environment" and research activities to support national
policies on the green, including forests.
The guidelines are aimed to provide a solid framework -valid also at the European level - from the
technical-scientific point of view to the realization, implementation and monitoring of policies of
urban forestation and increase of urban green, sustainable from the ecological point of view and of the
environmental, social and economic concerns.
In order to frame properly policies to increase the city's trees in the context of environmental actions
for the protection of biodiversity and combating change Climate, the Guidelines document and
investigate e technical and managerial aspects linked to proper design, implementation and
management of new forest areas, providing all the information necessary to protect and to enhance the
heritage trees.
Director of the Department of
Environmental Protection of Roma
Capitale
Dott. Pasquale Libero Pelusi