Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

The agronomic season begins, almost 28 thousand plantings in the city. The ForestaMi project comes to life throughout the metropolitan area

Milan, November 20 2020 – Saturday 21 November is the day dedicated to trees not only because in Italy it is National Tree Day (established by the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, recognized with art. 1 of the Law of 14 January 2013) but also because it is the day that marks the start of the new agronomic season (21 November 2020 – 21 March 2021) with which, despite the difficulties dictated by the pandemic, ForestaMi resumes the forestation campaign in the Municipality of Milan and in the metropolitan city of Milan.

The project, promoted by the Municipality of Milan, the Metropolitan City of Milan, the Lombardy Region - ERSAF, Parco Nord Milano, Agricultural Park Sud Milano and Fondazione di Comunità Milano, based on research carried out by the Polytechnic of Milan (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies), supported by the Falck Foundation and FS Sistemi Urbana, has the final objective of planting 3 million trees by 2030 in the territory of the metropolitan city of Milan.

The new agronomic season starts with the planting of over 114 thousand plants in the Metropolitan City, of which approximately 28 thousand in the Municipality of Milan, which has exceeded 500.000 trees.

"Planting even just one tree is a gesture of trust in tomorrow – comments the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala – it is an investment in the future of our neighbourhoods, our municipalities and our country. For this reason, in a particularly difficult year due of the ongoing health emergency, National Tree Day and the start of the new agronomic season acquire an even deeper value. The planting plan for 2020/21 which includes around 28 thousand plants in Milan together with the ambitious objective of. ForestaMi to plant 3 million trees by 2030 in the municipalities of the metropolitan city, thanks also to the support of private individuals and individual citizens, illustrates the importance of urban forestation in the sustainability path that Milan has long undertaken to improve the quality of the environment It's not just about increasing green spaces, but about contributing to building and spreading a common and shared environmental awareness: a commitment that Milan has made its own."

“Greater Milan, represented by the 133 municipalities of the metropolitan city, is making an extraordinary effort with the ForestaMi project and will be the protagonist of a decisive contribution towards reaching the ambitious goal of 3 million trees – comments Michela Palestra, institutional contact person for the project ForestaMi for the metropolitan city - ForestaMi was born well before the pandemic but precisely in this emergency situation it becomes an urgency on the administrators' policy agenda to invest in sustainability and the environment. ForestaMi's actions immediately translate into a barrier to climate change and an improvement in the quality of life for citizens throughout the metropolitan area."

“The forestation work in the metropolitan area of ​​Milan is important from an environmental point of view and also as a symbolic message of life in this difficult period. Trees are part of the solution to the problems caused by climate change and hydrogeological instability. In addition to the planting work, it is necessary for public bodies to also take care of protection and management. The Region is acting throughout Lombardy, through the technical support of ERSAF, to distribute approximately 300.000 native quality plants to municipalities and private entities every year and to plan forestry interventions carefully, guaranteeing the maintenance of the trees up to maturity so that they can provide all those environmental benefits that are now indispensable also for the plains and the cities – declares Fabio Rolfi, Councilor for Agriculture, Food and Green Systems of the Lombardy Region.

“The real challenge today is linked to urban forestry, which presents itself more than ever as a fundamental necessity: the woods around the cities, and continuous systems of important trees within them, clean the air by absorbing fine dust, they shade public areas avoiding excessive heating, they reduce CO₂. But not only that: trees improve the quality of life and public health. There is a need for a real revolution in terms of urban forestation and demineralisation of surfaces: bringing woods and forests into cities means limiting the production of CO₂ precisely where it is mostly produced, means ensuring that CO₂ be exploited as a sort of fertilizer for plants and transform it into oxygen; it means offering a real and concrete contribution to slowing down global warming and promoting an increase in biodiversity. The challenge of urban forestation and ForestaMi lies in proposing innovative and sustainable urban ecosystems in which vegetal nature and the city intertwine and act as a single organism – comments Stefano Boeri, President of the ForestaMi scientific committee.  
 
“In Milan today we exceeded 500.000 trees, an important milestone that pushes us to do even better and even more. This year we will plant almost 28 thousand plants, the Adriano park will be completed by February, the new garden in Viale Crespi will open shortly and we will inaugurate Sant'Agostino, where almost 100 new trees have changed the face of the square. These are just some of the many projects to make each neighborhood more livable. We want every citizen to be able to find green spaces suitable for children and pedestrians just a few steps from home. A need, that of places to live outdoors, which the pandemic has shown to be even stronger for citizens - declares the councilor for Urban Planning, Green and Agriculture of the Municipality of Milan Pierfrancesco Maran -. These are accompanied by the medium-term objectives: 20 new parks, the birth of the Great Metropolitan Park and the planting of 3 million trees on a metropolitan scale by 2030. A great green revolution that needs everyone's collaboration".

Milan, exceeded 500.000 trees. Almost 28 thousand plants are arriving and the completion of the Adriano park [Photo gallery]

27.721 plants, of which 20.120 trees and 7.621 shrubs: these are the numbers of the planting plan for the city of Milan in the 2020/2021 agronomic season: among the 20.120 trees, compared to an estimate of children born in 2020 which amounts to 9.300 children ( there were 7.839 on November 15), including those replacing all the trees cut down because they were sick or fell due to bad weather. The new trees will increase the rich arboreal heritage of Milan which today numbers 501.252 specimens, of which almost 267.000 are the responsibility of the Municipality and mapped on the Geoportal of the Municipality of Milan https://geoportale.comune.milano.it/sit/patrimonio-del-verde/. 

Almost a thousand trees will arrive in the Adriano district, where the Administration is carrying out interventions to complete the park and bring the light rail and the school thanks to the resources of the Suburbs Plan. The first 50 will be planted on Saturday thanks to the donation of Bene Assicurazioni in via Tremelloni, in Franca Rame's garden. In the next few weeks, 560 new plants will find their home in the second lot of the public park, which will thus be completed and made accessible to citizens by February, while another 315 will be planted in the other lot of the park, via Adriano, via Mulas and via Tremelloni. 

The first interventions are starting these days. Miami SCaRL, which will plant approximately 11 thousand trees as part of the Global service; between 19 and 21 November, national tree day, it will take place between via Cima and via Bistolfi, in via Medea, in via Donna Prassede, via San Dionigi, Baden Powell park, via Cividale del Friuli, via Natta and via Comasina. 

Around 2.000 trees will be planted to deduct costs as part of urban planning plans: among these, 250 are being planted in the last lot of the City Life park under construction, almost 40 in the new linear park soon to open between viale Crispi and viale Pasubio, 75 in piazza Sraffa through the intervention of the Bocconi Campus, 36 between via Comasina and via Fermi, 23 in the new square under construction in via Schievano, 8 in the garden of the nursery school in via Palermo, 50 in via Fatebenesorelle, in the new flowerbeds in front of the new swimming facility under construction, while 22 trees are arriving in via Ripamonti as part of the construction of the new Smart city lab business incubator.

Numerous contributions from private individuals: in addition to the trees donated by Bene Assicurazioni, in recent days 6 olive trees were planted in the flowerbeds of Corso Como by Fineco, 6 magnolias will be planted by Mapei as part of the redevelopment of the central flowerbed in Viale Jenner, 21 cherry trees will arrive in Piazza Piola together with the redevelopment promoted by Spazio Teatro No'hma Teresa Pomodoro, in Via Quadrio 6 trees donated to the Municipality by Hugo Boss will arrive. In recent days E.on is also carrying out an intervention of high naturalistic value in Bosco in the city, with the creation of a new forest and the planting of 500 trees in collaboration with AzzeroCO₂ (Legambiente group) and CFU Urban Forestry Boscoincittà.

Activities in large wooded areas are also fundamental. The Boscoincittà Urban Forestry Center will plant 575 trees and as many shrubs at Parco Cassinis in Rogoredo. Two substantial reforestation activities will also be carried out in the coming weeks in via Senigallia and in via Cascina dei prati, bringing in almost 1.350 trees and more than 800 shrubs.

School Project  
ForestaMi has undertaken a collaboration with the Education Department of the Municipality of Milan for the design of an educational and training program dedicated to primary and secondary schools in the metropolitan city. The program includes educational and training activities available to teachers and the development of school participation programs designed for children dedicated to the theme of urban forestation and environmental sustainability, which can also be used through online teaching, to enrich the tools available to teachers during this difficult time of pandemic.

“An initiative – declares Education Councilor Laura Galimberti – which is part of the wide network of activities already started with schools - think of the distribution of water bottles, plastic free projects or school gardens - which aim to raise awareness among children and young people on sustainability issues, to train adults who will be able to protect nature and the planet in a more conscious and determined way. You can also learn through play and for this reason we are thinking of activities in the form of edutainment that can be carried out primarily outdoors, but also online".

The Little Singers of Milan  
On the occasion of National Tree Day, the video "Tree plus tree" was released, filmed by the families of the Little Singers in their holiday destinations. An invitation to respect nature and its most generous children - the trees - born from a commitment that goes beyond the classrooms, in search of the most diverse trees. A study and a game, a free song and above all a manifesto for the future. The video was born from an idea shared by the author Janna Carioli, by the composer Claudio Napolitano for the musical arrangement by Valeriano Chiaravalle, and by the choir director Laura Marcora. The Piccoli cantori per Milano training project, supported by the Fondazione di Comunità Milano, aims to develop an innovative and engaging musical repertoire that addresses nature and the environment from the perspective of children. In the name of everyone.  
Video available at the following address https://youtu.be/6ZE-aUDWZ_Q.