Green. The ReLambro project enters its third phase and regenerates the area south-east of Milan
The Northern Lambro Ecological Network is the protagonist thanks to the collaboration of a large partnership and with funding from the Cariplo Foundation
Milan, June 26 2019 – The ReLambro SE project (metropolitan Lambro Ecological Network. Ecosystem Services in the South East) represents the continuation of two projects co-financed by the Cariplo Foundation: ReLambro, started in 2013 with a study phase and continued with the first actions implemented in Ponte Lambro in 2014 and at the Grande Parco Forlanini in 2016; VOLARE (Enhancing the Lambro river in the regional ecological network), started in 2015 and dedicated to the Lambro Valley from the border of Milan to Melegnano, which also included the Vettabbia and Atdetta water network.
The redevelopment activities envisaged by the ReLambro project were concentrated in 2018 in the north-eastern part of the city of Milan with the aim of regenerating the Lambro Park and the coastal areas between via Rizzoli and via Feltre, with interventions currently being concluded which will allow the return to naturalness of large floodplain areas, the strengthening of part of the minor irrigation system and that made up of hedges and rows, the reorganization of public and usable functions in areas currently at risk of flooding, finally the start of a process of environmental regeneration of socially degraded areas. The ReLambro strategic project has allowed the implementation of interventions to mend the urban ecological network for the redevelopment of the Lambro Milanese. It is only the beginning of a challenging process of redevelopment of the eastern area of the city, which today expands its boundaries to include in the project the territories of the municipalities of Segrate and Peschiera Borromeo, San Donato Milanese and Melegnano, already affected from the VOLARE project, aiming not only at the creation of better ecological quality, but considering the river and its ecosystem as a true Natural Capital, the heritage of the whole society.
The implementation of the ReLambro SE project is made possible thanks to new funding from the Cariplo Foundation and the collaboration between ERSAF (Regional Agency for Agriculture and Forestry Services), the Municipalities involved (Milan, Segrate, Peschiera Borromeo, San Donato Milanese, Melegnano), Parco Nord, research bodies such as the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policies of the University of Milan, the CNR-IRSA, the National Institute of Urban Planning, the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Polytechnic of Milan and the Legambiente associations Lombardy and Great Forlannini Park.
“The territory to be involved is growing and the objectives are growing – declares Alessandro Fede Pellone, ERSAF president and spokesperson for the project partnership –. First of all, ReLambro SE systematizes the ReLambro and VOLARE ecological connection projects, expanding the ecological 'design' from the metropolitan river corridor developed on the north-south axis towards the east, in that peri-urban area which meets large agricultural areas and which is currently enclosed by important infrastructural elements. Through the strategy outlined by ReLambro SE, the high-value naturalistic areas still present today will be able to regain a true ecological role for the extended city. Secondly, in ReLambro SE the objectives are growing: to connect, but above all to improve natural capital. Through six interventions at strategic points, the project will achieve tangible improvements in ecosystem structures and, continuing as a 'process', will involve numerous stakeholders to act on future transformations of the territory and concretely integrate the ecological dimension by recognizing natural capital as a real value of society".
“Among the sustainability objectives between now and 2030 – declares the councilor for Urban Planning, Green and Agriculture Pierfrancesco Maran – there is the commitment of the Municipality of Milan, together with the Metropolitan City, Parco Nord and Parco Agricolo Sud, to work for the birth of the great Metropolitan Park through the ecological connection between the North Park and the South Park. From this perspective, the ReLambro SE project, together with the work for the birth of the Great Forlanini Park, will allow us to act in a more effective and synergistic manner in one of the largest green areas of the territory which still require important redevelopment interventions, enhancing the agricultural and river territory and further reducing the distances between the municipalities to the east, for a naturalistic connection of a metropolitan dimension".
“The ReLambro SE project represents an important piece in the strategy for improving the environmental endowment of the metropolitan area and its ecosystem performance, through the construction of a shared strategic vision, capable of keeping the naturalistic, agricultural and urban components together in a single valorisation strategy for a territory already strongly marked by the creation of infrastructural works of great impact and, at the same time, affected by important territorial transformation forecasts - declare Andrea Arcidiacono and Antonio Longo, scientific managers of the project for the Polytechnic of Milan.
These are activities that are strongly consistent with the River Contracts strategy, promoted by the Lombardy Region and led by ERSAF, with the aim of returning the river to the territories and the territories to the river. Through the naturalistic reconversion of degraded areas it will be possible to trigger a process of overall reorganization and improvement of the quality of habitats, today impoverished by elements of fragmentation, reassigning agriculture the key role in the management of the landscape and environmental quality. ReLambro SE is the demonstration that cities can reconcile society, services and biodiversity, through the creation of ecologically sustainable, politically participatory and culturally vibrant environments.
“The Lambro is a capital that the Milanese metropolis must rediscover and reclaim: for decades we have been denouncing the pollution, illegalities and shortcomings of the river's purification system. Today the first efforts are producing results, the waters and banks of the river are coming back to life. The city needs to regain confidence with a river that it had forgotten, and which now can and must become one of its territorial excellences: for this reason, a great commitment and increased vigilance is still needed, especially from citizens - declare Lorenzo Baio, water manager of Legambiente and Gianni Dapri of the Grande Parco Forlanini Association.
To keep attention on the water system alive, it is necessary to work through innovative dynamics with the aim of promoting the ecological transformation of spaces to create a recognized value of natural capital, which is able to overcome the limits imposed by administrative borders. The ReLambro SE project will aim to "build" a new landscape quality by defining the pillars for the realization of an improvement in natural capital, also in terms of territorial governance.
In summary, the interventions will concern: the recovery of areas with strong settlement pressure (Municipality of Segrate); the strengthening of the connection with the Grande Parco Forlanini – Idroscalo system; the redevelopment of river areas near Linate airport (Municipality of Milan); the valorisation of the agro-ecological system of the Carengione area (Municipality of Peschiera Borromeo); the improvement of the ecological connections between the Levadina Oasis and the naturalistic bends of the Lambro, also with respect to the pressures of the infrastructure system (Municipality of San Donato Milanese); the valorization of the river and the green floodplain areas in the urban area for a greater vocation for enjoyment (Municipality of Melegnano).
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Updated: 26/06/2019