Urban forestry and reforestation: this is the new frontier of the regeneration of cities 2.0 and the starting point of a process of sustainable change that will increasingly affect our territory. Only by increasing the quantity and size of the city’s green lung can we hope to have countries on a human scale and more aware citizens.
We talked about it with the councilor Francesco Brandiwith delegations to financial resources and programming, strategic urban planning and suburbs.
«The urban forestation of Bitonto – the councilor began on BitontoLive – starts from the green redevelopment of the “Nicola Rossiello” municipal multi-sports field. As has already happened in the past, a large company – in this case Amazon which has located one of its factories right in the Bitonto area – to compensate for the large environmental impact it has on the city due to the large quantity of goods that pass through vehicles on the road every day , has decided to invest in increasing the city’s greenery. Through Alberitalia, which promotes the care and management of trees and forests to combat the climate crisis, this company wanted to carry out a large green intervention on Bitonto, which however could be achieved in contiguous planting (affecting a single area) and on a municipally owned land. This is why we chose Rossiello to proceed with the planting of 800 plants in total – 650 trees and 150 shrubs – in order to create a kind of new grove in the city».
And he added: «These are local, native plants, and we have also set up hydraulic rescue for 3 years, to guarantee the need for water and compensate for the error of the previous forestation, again near the athletics track, which did not achieve excellent results. due to the scarcity of water supplied».
But there are also other interventions in sight. «With funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Metropolitan City – Brandi continued – however, a small loan remained at stake (for a larger but defunded intervention) in the Bosco di Bitonto area. Then we continue with theincrease in urban greenery in Piazza Aldo Moro and on Via Repubblica with an intensification of plantings equal to 1000%. To be precise, on via Repubblica we currently have 77 specimens of sephora japonica but we will then have 57 specimens of pyrus challeriana and 42 flowerbeds, while in piazza Moro, in addition to the 34 specimens of quercus ilex, there will also be 5 platanus orientalis and an infinite number of bushes . This is a construction site, already underway, which will visibly modify the areas affected, with plants and trees of types more suitable for the urban layout and with less inconvenience to residents».
Plantings also planned in zone 167 «where the presence of greenery will be doubled with a small change in the budget, between via Togliatti and via Amendolagine (by winter). There is talk of 30 trees and alongside the creation of another small park with other plantings»as explained by the councilor.
Brandi, in closing, also wanted to give a feedback on the Biodiversity Festival which was celebrated in Mariotto from 18 to 24 May: «The opinion on the initiative is extremely positive, growing compared to last year. There was a positive synergy between the operational headquarters (Villa Jannuzzi), local resources and associations. Mariotto can express a specialized centrality: that is, develop his vocation, which is agricultural and environmental, in a specific territory. As the president of the Alta Murgia National Park, Francesco Tarantini, said, “Mariotto is the gateway to the Park” and we would like to enhance it from this aspect, also from a tourist perspective».
The premises are there and also the foundations for a solid and lasting collaboration, even with new local realities such as the Mariotto Territorio e Società association and the Naumanni agri-kindergarten. «I see the continuity of our commitment in the new In.Con.Tra project, in the funding of 300 thousand euros that the PNAM should grant for the valorisation of the forest, in the intention of continuing to propose the Biodiversity Festival in Mariotto and in the attempt to redo the “Gusta la Murgia” festival and try to bring the “Suoni della Murgia” festival right to our hamlet. We will work on participation, but our support and commitment will certainly not be lacking. We are on the right path»concluded the councilor.
Monday 3 June 2024
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