URBAN GREENNESS AND CLIMATE CHANGE: BELLOCCI SPEAKS
Dr. Paolo Bellocci is the Delegate of the Tuscany region of the Public Gardens Association his speech will focus on urban greenery and health.
He tells us that he really likes to immerse himself in nature even in his free time, so he is one of those people who has managed to do a job in which he can be happy.
For this intervention he decided to provide “dots” which then, united, will form an overall drawing of the situation.
The incipit is that plants were there long before us and will be there after us, and that we human beings need plants while they don’t need us.
Plants are living and non-material beings
A good approach to greenery must be medical. Greater sensitivity towards these beings is needed because, unlike asphalt which once laid begins to be useful and only needs to be maintained, plants once planted must be cared for to become useful.
ONE HEALTH
The holistic vision One Health (for further information https://www.iss.it/one-health), i.e. a healthcare model based on the integration of different disciplines, is ancient and at the same time current. It is based on the recognition that human health, animal health and ecosystem health are inextricably linked.
This is a slogan that reminds us that the biosphere, that thin band that surrounds our planet, exists thanks to the balance of all ecosystems: animal, human and biological. Everything is connected, so everything must be managed well.
FOREST THERAPY
It helps prevent some diseases. Visiting nature, forests and woods helps the body stay healthy as well as being a source of information for the 5 senses.
SOME CONCRETE EXAMPLES
It is worth making a second mention of pruning, even if Remondini has already spoken about this, but with a different point of view.
The pruning we do today is not respectful of the nature of the plants.
First of all we could say, perhaps in a simplistic way that
+ hair – hot, + hair – fine dust
PRUNING
Pruning today must aim for the health of the tree. You can no longer pollard even knowing that this costs more than correct pruning!
Furthermore, pollarding reduces the benefits of the trees so IT IS ALSO ECONOMICALLY A DISASTER.
The correct pruning is to cut what the tree already intends to eliminate in the near future.
We can also remember how much poor plant management weighs on healthcare spending.
When you want to fight anxiety in children and young people, you have to take them to the forests and woods.
We build the school, the car parks, the sewer, relegating the greenery to secondary well-being when in fact it is primary and would allow the prevention of important illnesses and ailments.
it’s time to take care of the trees by learning from mistakes and using this list
TREE MANAGEMENT PLANS
Alex Shigo, in his Arboricoltura Moderna Compendio, writes on the last page “146. Data, Data, Data” meaning that to intervene on plants you must first collect a large amount of information.
Three fundamental questions must be answered:
How are we? That is, what is the current situation;
Where do we go? That is, what are our objectives and
How do we get there? What path should we take, in how many steps and in how much time do we want to reach our goals?
In practice, FORESIGHT!
Collecting data is fundamental and also learning to manage this data with technological tools such as, for example, the GIS (Geographical Information System).
The example of Prato
In Prato they started collecting data trying to define the areas that needed more greenery. They overlaid data such as age of inhabitants, present greenery, heat peaks, density of buildings and inhabitants, etc.
4 areas were determined that need intervention in order to prevent diseases of the most fragile subjects such as the elderly, the sick and children, and they also did the calculations relating to the costs including the growth of the planted plants.
Public and private forests
There are not only public forests and trees, but also private ones which have a significant impact on the total plant heritage of a municipality. It follows from here that private individuals must be educated on the value of their assets and directed towards good management of it.
The importance of risk
And the risk calculation, already foreseen in the planting studies, must be implemented.
Risk is important as an approach to uncertainty and allows you to manage falling branches and all the events related to the life of trees and greenery in general that can happen.
GIVING SHAPE TO TREES
What is the reason for wanting to give a shape to trees? Partly our aesthetic taste. If this is the only reason that leads us to want to prune to give the tree a shape, we shouldn’t do it. Observation is still the best way to approach this situation. If the tree is healthy and does not cause traffic disruption, it should not be touched or the intervention should be kept to a minimum.
Green is health and we must demand to have it, that it is well managed and that the institutions, but also ourselves, learn to know it and deepen it!
And here are a couple of books that represent current references on the subject: Potatura degli alberi and Consolidamento degli alberi
If you want to know the courses at the University of Pisa you can go here
the Mondo del Giardino advice
Keep the website monitored because we will continue to tell you about this interesting conference also from a psychological point of view! Mondo del Giardino exists precisely to help you delve deeper into landscape issues, but also the importance of your garden in the overall vision of the territory.
Now on horseback! Work awaits us! Our new wonderful outdoor space is about to be born!
GOOD WORK and … if you have any questions please write to info@mondodelgiardino.com
Sources of the images: for the images we thank Dr. Paolo Bellucci and we also thank Pixabay and in particular, Pete Linforth for the social image, Elden Miller for the cover and Gerd Altmann for the closing.
