An urban forest is taking form in Parma, it is a project of over
350 donors between private citizens and companies, who are funding it with the
subscription to the fundraising campaign launched last December on GoFundMe by
The Forest Consortium KilometroVerdeParma.
The area affected by reforestation,
launched on 1 March, is located in the residential district Parma Mia. The
choice of this area for the planting was born by the agreement reached by the
Consortium with the municipality of Parma and the local inhabitants.
Thanks to the 25.000
euros collected, the Consortium is planting 1.000 trees on an area of 1,6
hectares, with one sixth of indicative plant of 4x4 metres, that will allow
trees to grow also in width preventing future thinnings. In addition to the
plantation, the amount collected thanks to the kindness of citizens and
companies will guarantee the maintenance of plants and woods for three years,
the time frame deemed necessary for an excellent development of the plants.
Most of the plants
that will be planted comes from Imola and Forlì’ nurseries managed by the
Emilia Romagna Region, with which the Forest Consortium has a supply agreement:
these are mostly oak trees, hornbeam, cherry trees, maple trees, ash trees,
service trees, lindens, hackberry, all native species that are well-suited to
the climate of Parma. To increase biodiversity inside the forest will be
planted ornamental species, as gingko, liquidambar, ornamental apple trees,
tulip trees provided from a Pistoian company european leader in floriculture.
In the urban forest Parma Mia citizens will find
also examples of resinous like yew, cypresses and cedar trees, evergreen trees,
selected for aesthetic properties and for their absorption capacity of
pollutants and storage capacity of CO2. Assuming a forest age equal to fifty
years (after this threshold Co2 sequestration starts to decrease) and
considering that trees planted will be 1.000, belonging to different species, it
can be estimated that every tree will sequester on average 20 pounds a year of
CO2: the urban forest Parma Mia, in fifty years, will then sequestrate the
equivalent of 1.000 tonnes of CO2.