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1. PLANNING
Planning represents a fundamental step for the realization of forestry interventions; thus is desirable
that technical offices of interested authority carefully plan every intervention, with the support of
public/private experts. These interventions are important also to oppose soil consumption (see the final
box “Soil consumption in Italy and EU guidelines to limit, mitigate and compensate soil sealing”).
Every urban forestry project has to be integrated in the territorial context: new forested areas, in
fact, should be planned considering their integration in existing urban green system, so to assume a
role in the ecological connectivity. A careful planning and, primarily, an appropriate species selection,
allows to optimize costs and to successfully pursue specific objectives such as carbon sequestration,
improvement of air quality, biodiversity protection, environmental education, etc.
Therefore, for a correct planning is important to consider the following aspects:
1.
Aim of the forestry project (carbon sequestration, fine dusts capture, biodiversity protection,
environmental education, etc.);
2.
Site selection (environmental characteristics and restrictions);
3.
Planning addresses (wooded areas, tree-lined rows, green belts, etc.);
4.
Species selection;
5.
Selection of the propagation material.
1.1 Aim of the forestry project
The first step is to identify the main aim of the forestry
project, because all the consecutive steps
(planning addresses, species selection, etc.) will depend on the function that the new area should have
(carbon sequestration, atmospheric pollutants abatement, biodiversity protection, environmental
education, etc).
In fact, green areas, especially forested ones, can provide many benefits, both ecological (such as
ecological connectivity, biodiversity protection, mitigation of urban heat island, carbon sequestration,
soil protection, fine dusts and other atmospheric pollutants capture, etc.) and socio-economical
(psychophysical wellbeing, energy saving, tourism, historical-artistic heritage revaluation, contact
with nature, etc.).
Thus, first of all, is crucial to identify the main function that the new wooded area should have, also
for the selection of the best tree species to plant (for example the poplar is suitable for carbon
sequestration, but not for green areas addressed to citizens use, because this species is allergenic and
susceptible to collapses).
Specifically, according to the Rome Municipality PRG (Local Strategic Plan) addresses, forestry
interventions would have to pursue the following strategic objectives:
•
contribute to reduction of greenhouse gases emissions, through carbon sequestration and local
microclimate improvement;
•
contribute to atmospheric and acoustic pollution mitigation;
•
improve environmental functionality and connectivity, contributing to the Ecological network,
through the realization of forestry interventions in specific areas, identified as priority for local
biodiversity increase;
•
improve urban and periurban landscape.
Therefore, among the various ecosystem services provided by urban wooded areas, in this
Guidelines will be considered specifically forestry interventions aimed to:
•
carbon sequestration (mitigation climate change);
•
pollution mitigation (atmospheric and acoustic);
•
biodiversity conservation and ecological connectivity.
The analysis of the main documents on urban fores
t 1, shows that, at various levels (International,
European, National), particular emphasis is given both to ecosystem services provided by urban and
1
See “Technical report on urban forestry” (available only in Italian).