Page 133 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

Italian forests: a resource for the future

Prof. Riccardo Valentini
Regional Council Member for Latium and Professor at the University of Tuscia

Good evening everybody!
As expected from professors within the science area, I produced and
brought my own slides presentation. I wanted warmly to thank General Del
Sette, General Ricciardi and the Chief of the State Forestry Department, Gen.
Patrone for this invitation: I feel honoured as it will give me the opportunity to
try to persuade you on the importance of forests.
I hope my task is not going to be too difficult, I suppose not for the State
Forestry Department at least! I feel it will not be difficult for the Police Force,
the Carabinieri either, since it is a new topic which is also strategic for the natio-
nal security and for the great environmental challenges we have in our country.
It is indeed a good sign that the forest may represent an element of uni-
fication and synergy between these two Forces who work together, that carry
different competencies which, despite their diversity, may achieve high results.
Often in mathematics people say: “Two plus two equals four”. However, some-
times “two plus two” may equal five, six or even eight. This depends on the abi-
lity of people and Institutions to put themselves at service of our Country. I
believe this can be a testing ground for the forests, a very important testing
ground.
Forests are an important natural asset. A quick reminder to all of us: we
have four billion hectares of forests in the world. We can say that nearly one
third of our national territory is covered in forests, ten and a half million hec-
tares. Therefore, forests are also a very important asset. Perhaps not everybody
thinks the fact that agriculture, the soil which feeds us, a few centuries ago was
in 90% of the cases, covered in forests.
Forests created that organic matter, that humus, those nutrients that today
allow us to cultivate the soil which, in certain cases, we are cultivating excessi-
vely. Somehow we are “stressing” the soil, despite the fact that we fertilise it and
try, with different means and artificial invigorating inputs, to make it fertile.

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