Thirty-eight dangerous plants in Piediluco: the Municipality of Terni publishes the ordinance for the felling of trees while Green Europe and the Animal Rights Party say: wicked choice, choose pruning.
Palazzo Spada’s decision came on the basis of a report from the regional forestry agency which highlights the state of the plants located in different areas of the lakeside village. Afor technicians speak of “generalized tearing and drying” and for some specimens highlight “a potential risk of falling”. The area with the greatest criticality is that of Corso IV Novembre: “Along the road – explains the Afor report – 26 specimens of Prunus spp. rather young people in a terrible vegetative state, with stems full of rot, obvious dryness and mangling: these are irremediably compromised individuals”.
Hence the ordinance signed by the mayor Stefano Bandecchi with which he gives the green light to the felling operations in consideration of “the phytostatic conditions in which the plants reported by Afor find themselves” and the fact that “the areas where the trees are rooted are highly frequented, in particular during the spring-summer season” and therefore it is necessary to “promptly activate” the measures “in order to avoid phenomena harmful to public safety also in relation to the position of the trees and the high frequency of places”. The ordinance instructs the Forestry Agency to proceed “to protect public safety, with the immediate felling of trees” and also provides that “if the presence of active nests/dens is found, all necessary actions must be implemented promptly to guarantee the protection of fauna by immediately notifying” the municipal offices and the Terni section of the WWF “for the resolution of the case”.
Green Europe and the Italian Animal Rights Party, however, warn the Municipality of Terni to proceed with the provisions of the ordinance: “The Afor report, which is mentioned in the ordinance, is not attached to the ordinance itself. The period chosen for felling the trees is in contrast with the nesting period of the birds. A favorable opinion must be given to felling by the forestry carabinieri – they contest – and the Council of State and the Constitutional Court prohibit the felling of trees even if dry in the presence of dens, for winter shelter, and nesting”.
“We therefore jointly ask – Green Europe and the Animal Rights Party explain in a note – to block the wicked choices of this municipal administration, which during the election campaign placed the protection of animals among the points of its program. We instead propose, even if at a higher cost for the Municipality, a pruning and care of the plants that bring them to an optimal situation without disfiguring the environment, especially since the trees in question do not have a root system on the surface with consequent risk of the tree falling, but they have a well-structured deep root system”.
