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From the #semprepiuverde dossier, a Campania emerges with less and less green. The data is merciless Legambiente presented today in Naples, with a flashmob off San Giovanni a Carbonara, near the King Ladislaus park. The latest Istat data relating to 2021, processed by the environmental association, considers the “large urban parks”, “equipped green areas” and “historic green areas” typologies in the five capital cities. All together they reach an extension of 765 hectares, with an average of 6.2 m2/inhabitant. A value well below the national average, equal to 12 m2/inhabitant. The city of Caserta (16 m2/inhabitant) has the highest amount of greenery per citizen. A large hand comes from Royal Palace Parkclassified as historic green. Benevento (12 m2/inhabitant) is at the national average. However, they are decidedly below (between 5 and 6 m2/inhabitant). Avellino, Naples and Salerno. “Compared to their absolute extension – explains Legambiente -, Naples with 164 hectares has the largest extension of historic greenery, followed by Caserta with 82 hectares, just as Naples with 291 hectares is the city with the largest amount of greenery used for large urban parks, followed again by Caserta with 30 hectares“. Benevento and Salerno are the cities with the highest extension of equipped greenery, with 54 hectares and 26 hectares respectively. In the five capitals, there are also 119 hectares of greenery used as school gardens (Istat). Naples (87.4 hectares, equal to 7.0% of its urban greenery) has the highest quantity. Next is Salerno (16.5 hectares, equal to 6.7% of the total).
THE FOCUS ON NAPLES: MANAGEMENT UNDER ACCUSE
The dossier dedicates a focus to the regional capital, which has come under accusation. “Let’s start with a simple fact – it is read – : if the the municipality of Naples had appropriately taken into account Law 10/2013, the Ministerial Guidelines and the many further guidelines produced by the Ministry of the Environment from 2014 to 2020 in relation to new born and adopted children, he would have had to plant at least 54,700 trees for a surface area of at least 137 hectares (considering one sixth of planting of 16 m2/tree): another Capodimonte park!”. Actually, “despite considering some replacement interventions and new planting of trees, over the years the trees have mostly been cut down and even more often compromised by poor management made up of incorrect cultivation practices”. These policies are “emblematically represented by the drastic pruning and pollarding, often also offered and carried out by private individuals”. Then there are “recurring cuts to the root systems produced during works on underground utility networks, or from damage caused by infrastructural works”. And so “substantially not many new plantings of plants have been carried out, while there have been many fellings and compromises of existing trees”. The whole “in the absence of the essential tools referred to in L.10/2013 (census, green plan regulation)”.
In Naples, protests have been recorded over the years. But to the mobilizations of environmentalists and citizens, and “the usual reasons of lack of personnel and funds were given for the request to deal with the green issue in an organic way”. Nevertheless “at the end of the last council meeting – writes Legambiente – Naples was able to benefit from a large amount of funding (approximately 30 million euros in total) provided by both the Metropolitan City and the Campania Region“. With these two actions, “unfortunately developed during the lockdown and confinement due to the pandemic, no discussion was initiated with citizens and associations, who have always been committed to the problem“.
In particular, the Campania Region, “as part of the POC Campania 2014/2020 Program of “Redevelopment of green areas in urban parks, natural areas and historic gardens, the redevelopment of 26 municipal parks in the city of Naples was financed with 15 million euros”. The Region’s procurement procedures “they contemplated dividing the 26 parks into 4 lots and the average amount for each park was approx. 650,000” EUR. Not bruscolini. At the same time, the Metropolitan City, “thanks to the funds for urban forestation activities granted by the Ministry of the Environment starting from 2020-2021, the Municipality of Naples has financed the redevelopment of 19 Urban Parks for a total of 13,880 M euros“. The average amount was just over 700,000 euros per park. “The interventions envisaged in this last case – he comments Anna Savaresedirector of Legambiente Campania – were similar to those put out to tender by the Region with a strong predominance of related works (flooring, balustrades, lighting, areas equipped for play, benches, video surveillance, areas equipped for children’s play, security structures, etc.) compared broke”. For the latter “also in this case only the redevelopment was envisaged with the restoration of hedges, bushes on the slopes and the laying of ground cover on the steep slopes, arrangement of the slopes, many removals and some planting of new trees“.
Overall to date “the works financed by the Region were carried out and – says Savarese – part of those financed by the Metropolitan City, but problems related to management are already emerging, largely entrusted to what is known to Napoli Servizi, also due to the use in some cases (such as for example for the Giardino del Molosiglio which is also a historic park) of assignments to third sector entities in the absence of an appropriate regulation“. Furthermore “the large parks financed by the Metropolitan City seem to be gradually being all contracted out, but above all for the Virgiliano park and the Villa Comunale it has not yet been possible to see the projects, also in light of other financial resources found in the meantime by the Municipality“. In short, public green spaces remain a problem in Naples.
