Salò Pinewood Restoration: Scouts, Research, and Community Effort
The pinewood operation recounted in three acts. Twenty-five years ago, scouts and numerous volunteers intervened on the Salò pinewood, which had been destroyed by a fire. Now, the occasion was taken to remember that event. The Municipality published a fifty-page booklet (first act); in the Sala del Caminetto of Palazzo Fantoni, Professors Piercarlo Belotti and Paolo Maggi held a debate (second), and in the oratory of Villa everyone gathered around a commemorative spit (third). «After the fire of 71-72 — recall the scouts led by Pasquale Maggi, who now, as a city councilor, oversees Ecology — the San Bartolomeo mountain looked dry and desolate: weed and charred logs scattered chaotically created a bleak landscape. Our clan, which had already gained experience in similar projects in the Stelvio National Park and the Abruzzo National Park, devised an action plan and involved scouts from all over Italy, who came to our aid alongside the State Forestry Corps, WWF, CAI, Alpini, Lombardy Region, Italian Center for Environmental Education Research, Alto Garda Park Community, the Municipality of Salò, the Autonomous Tourism and Accommodation Company, Volontari del Garda, and others.»
Restoration activities and scout commitment
“Initially,” continues Maggi, “with hard work, we cleaned the undergrowth from burnt plants and uprooted the brambles that blocked the paths, threatening to suffocate even the trees spared from the fire. It was November 1975. A pinewood ours, founded way back in 1925: of the eight thousand Austrian black pines, three thousand had gone up in smoke. When we had to choose the species to plant, we sought advice from experts who recommended cypress, Aleppo pines, strobi pines, birches, maples, oaks, black hornbeams, and ash trees.”
Numbers and participants
23,000 hours of work, 3,850 participants, ten years of commitment (from November 30, 1975, to November 30, 1985). People came from all over Italy: Bergamo, Treviglio, Mantua, Milan, Turin, Terni, Verona, Trento, Padua, Biella, Bolzano, Rome, Predappio, Lecco, from Sicily to Calabria, from Lazio to Marche and Abruzzo. Over time, the ravines became stable, and new colonies of both flora and fauna took root.
Environmental awareness and protection
“We all want to remember the importance of having a green lung near every community. The forest is made for humans. They say that the clock of progress goes counterclockwise. Rallies, ecological marches, and debates are held everywhere, but how many really work to respect the environment? The pinewood operation is finished, but our commitment to defending the territory continues.”
The value of the environment and vegetation of Lake Garda
“This intervention remains valid,” said Paolo Maggi, “as an opportunity to reclaim a more modest and less boastful way of life. The amount of concrete poured has reached worrying levels, but they represent ephemeral wealth, in the hands of a few. Environmental protection, however, provides lasting wealth to the entire community.” Belotti took the opportunity to provide an overview of Lake Garda’s vegetation. This includes varieties such as olive, citrus, rosemary, holm oak (which grows up to 1200 meters on Monte Pizzocolo, above Toscolano Maderno; to find it at such a height, one must descend to Calabria), agaves, robinias, and even capers (which only need sun and fill the walls of lemon groves).