“In Puglia, the areas at risk of desertification represent 57% of the usable surface area and the bill paid by agriculture subject to climate change and drought is high, amounting to over 70 million euros”. The alarm was raised by Coldiretti Puglia who, on the occasion of the World Day against Desertification and Drought, wanted to highlight the risks in this regard while also speaking about solutions relating specifically to urban contexts.
“The planting of new trees in Puglia, which – continues the association – has just 10 square meters of urban greenery per inhabitant on average, is essential to tackle the climate emergency, including heat waves, drought, desertification and floods and to break the siege of smog in cities. In a situation of climate change, the presence and management of greenery is strategic, so much so that a large park can lower the heat level by 1 to 3 degrees compared to areas where there are no plants or green shade”, he further highlights.
“In the capital cities, where – Coldiretti reports – the range varies from 9.2 square meters per capita of greenery in Bari to 9 in Foggia, from 14.4 square meters in Taranto to 9.6 in Lecce up to 11.9 meters squares in Brindisi, almost 142 thousand trees were registered in Puglia, where Bari leads the ranking with almost 30 thousand trees followed by Foggia, Taranto, Lecce, Barletta, Brindisi and Andria, bringing up the rear with only 15 thousand trees”. However, the question relating to the availability of trees per inhabitant is different “where the ranking is reversed with Bari having only 9 trees per 100 inhabitants, Taranto almost 11, Foggia 14 and Andria 15 per 100 inhabitants, with Barletta, Lecce and Brindisi offering over 20 trees per 100 inhabitants. To maintain the commitment to combat climate change we need to intervene in a structural way on metropolitan environments”, concludes the association.
Freepik photo
