The interventions were made possible thanks to the contribution of leading national companies established in the territory

Milan, 22 December 2021 - Two new forestation initiatives have been launched in the Municipality of Milan developed by Forestami, a project that aims to increase natural capital and plant 3 million new trees in Milan and the Metropolitan City by 2030, and Arbolia, a benefit company created by Snam and Fondazione Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to develop new green areas in Italy.

At the heart of the partnership, there is an innovative project: for the first time in Italy, forestation activities will be developed in areas located near motorway junctions. The spaces were selected in collaboration and thanks to the Municipality of Milan and the Società Milano Serravalle within the Forestami project.

"After the city's parks and squares, Forestami is now starting to green up the areas around the main motorway access routes to the city, areas that have always been barren and unused - declares Elena Grandi, Councillor for the Environment and Green Areas of the Municipality of Milan. Two areas on the outskirts of Milan which, from today, will become the city's calling card for anyone arriving in the city from the south, who will no longer see grey, anonymous junctions but real green islands capable of helping to improve air quality, mitigating the polluting effects of passing vehicles as well as improving the landscape".

"Through the Convention signed last April, the Company has chosen to collaborate with this important and innovative urban regeneration project. The areas identified for forestation were handed over in November and planting in one of them, near the junction with the East Orbital Road and the Paullese State Road, is almost complete. We work every day to make our infrastructures more environmentally sustainable, and collaborating with an initiative such as Forestami is a further step in this direction," says Pietro Boiardi, CEO of Milano Serravalle - Milano Tangenziali S.p.A.

The areas identified for planting are two: one, in the South-East belt area of Milan, on the border between Milan and San Donato Milanese, at the junction between the East Orbital Road and State Road 415 Paullese; the other, in the South-West belt area of the city, between Milan and Assago, is located near the A7 Motorway and a service area in the Cantalupa district. A total of 7,752 trees of different native species (16 trees and 18 shrubs) will be planted.

The planting of the new green areas, which will continue during the 21-22 agronomic season, was made possible thanks also to contributions from Accenture (4,456 plants), Snam and its subsidiary Renovit (2,221 plants), BCG - Boston Consulting Group (500 plants), Banca Ifis (350 plants), RINA (200 plants) and Barbara Cominelli (25 plants).

"Forestami worked for almost a year to achieve this result, which required overcoming many bureaucratic and administrative obstacles. We have shown that when people work together, with a common goal in mind, they can do extraordinary things, such as growing a forest in a motorway cloverleaf and transforming the grassy areas on the edge of Milan's orbital roads into green lungs, resources for air quality, the fight against climate change and biodiversity" comments Fabio Terragni, Forestami Project Manager.

The Memorandum of Understanding currently in place between the Municipality of Milan and Società Milano Serravalle may lead to the identification and forestation of other junction areas, projects on which Forestami is already working.

The aim of afforestation interventions is to take concrete action to combat climate change, improve air quality and create opportunities for the social and economic development of the territories, in this case in areas that have never before been involved in forestation activities. The new green belts will also contribute to the absorption of CO₂ emissions and the reduction of PM₁₀ in areas particularly exposed to road traffic.

"We are very proud to be able to contribute to the growth of the Forestami project, creating new green lungs in Milan. With the support of major national companies established in the area, we are building two urban forests at the entrance to the city and will be maintaining them for the first five years: these are innovative projects that contribute to the redevelopment of two motorway junctions and to improving air quality, “comments Salvatore Ricco, CEO of Arbolia.