The Po River represents the largest wildlife corridor in the Po Valley. For this reason, wise management of the forests and natural areas along its course is key. These habitats can provide a precious stopping, shelter, and feeding point for many animals. Plus, they’re also an essential green lung for the citizens of neighboring areas. The Po River Forestry Consortium, on behalf of different public administrations, has the duty of restoring the riverine forests on state lands. Indeed, they’re precious as they enriched these areas with the green of poplars and the bright gray of willows. In addition to being an immense reservoir of biodiversity, the Po’s forests mitigate the effects of pollution and help countering the climate crisis. Trees need care in order to develop at their best and be kept healthy. For these reasons, we are supporting the Consorzio Forestale Padano project, which manages over a thousand hectares of forests along the river. Interventions to protect and improve these recent reforestations will focus on the eradication of alien and invasive species that tend to slow down or compromise the proper development of the forest. Other priority measures involve the tourism and leisure aspect, including the maintenance and upgrading of routes and trails.

This project is co-funded by the Lombardy Region’s Biodiversity and Climate Call (BioClima) and supported by Fondazione Cariplo. Bioclima is an initiative created within the framework of the Lombardy Plan and the LIFE GESTIRE 2020 project that aims to create public-private financing models to catalyze investment in biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation projects in Lombardy’s forests and protected areas.