Italian forests have increases in
size and their capacity to absorb CO2, a report out Wednesday
said.
In the last 10 years, said the Carabinieri's national inventory
on forest carbon reservoirs, the national wooded surface area
has risen by around 587,000 hectares to a total of some 11
million hectares.
The forest biomass is up 18.4% in that time, the report said.
This has enabled Italian woods and forests to absorb 290 million
more tonnes of CO2.
The report, complied with the help of environmental group CREA,
was said to be a "green thermometer" able to gauge the state of
vitality of Italian forests and their contribution to bringing
down the planet's fever from the climate crisis.
Woods cover some 36.7% of Italian territory, the survey said.
The number of cubic metres of biomass per hectare has risen from
144.9 to 165.4 since 2011, the report said.
The amount of CO2 absorbed from the atmosphere has gone from
1.789 million tonnes to 2.088 million, it said.
That corresponds to 569 million tonnes of CO2 trapped in biomass
and dead wood.
"Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas most responsible for the
global rise in temperatures and forests play an essential role
in protecting natural and global environmental equilibria," said
the Carabinieri forest rangers..
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
