Cagliari, Cagliari (FUA), Italy
City population: 384743
Duration: 2022 – 2022
Implementation status: Unknown
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: 60000 m2
Type of area: Public Greenspace Area
Last updated: September 2024

In the city of Cagliari, in the location of Mount Urpinu, 6400 new trees have been planted. The project, initiated in 2022, sought to restore the area's biodiversity and to revitalize the park for the benefits of the citizens (Refs. 1, 3 & 8). In fact, in previous years, the park has been subject to various environmental and social hazards because of its conditions: the area has been subject to wildfires and abandoned wastes, and with time, it became a gathering point for drug addicts and homeless people, thus becoming unsafe for citizens and especially for children (Refs. 1 & 6). Therefore, the Metropolitan City of Cagliari decided to reclaim the area and plant thousands of trees of various species (holm oaks, oaks, pine, carob and olive trees) over more than 6 hectares of land (Refs. 3 & 8). The project's goal is to restore biodiversity, mitigate temperatures, decrease air pollution, and increase citizens' sense of community (Ref. 1).

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Parks and urban forests
  • Large urban parks or forests
  • Green corridors and green belts

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Climate change mitigation
  • Environmental quality
  • Soil quality improvement
  • Waste management
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Social interaction
  • Sense of community and community engagement

Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)

  • Climate-Related Hazards
  • Urban flooding (stormwater)
  • Forest fires and wildfires
  • Environmental Degradation
  • Biodiversity loss
  • Deforestation and forest degradation
  • Soil degradation and loss
  • Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
  • Physical health harm (from pollution, wildfire, extreme temperature)
  • Inadequate access to recreational opportunities
  • Disconnection from nature
  • Insecurity in public spaces

Key priorities

Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation), Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration), Social Justice and community

Focus

Maintenance and management of urban nature, n.a., Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Ecological restoration of existing green spaces, Protection of natural ecosystems, Habitat restoration, n.a.2

Project objectives

The projects' goals focus on: 1. To restore the ecosystem of the Mount Urpinu area by reforesting the land with various local tree species. 2. To establish a green corridor to connect Molentargius' lagoon to Santa Gilla, enhancing ecological connectivity. 3. To reclaim and restore degraded and polluted soil due to previous abandonment and illegal waste dumping. 4. To mitigate climate change by introducing new trees on the site that help with carbon sequestration and temperature reduction. 5. To mitigates the flood and landslide risks with the introduction of increased vegetation. 6. To improve the landscape, promoting sustainable and resilient urban development and advance alternative urban planning and development models towards sustainability. 7. To increase accessibility to the area for locals therefore increasing the sense of community. (1,2,3,4,7,8)

Implementation activities

The project spans over an area of more than 6 hectares. Initially, efforts focused on reclaiming the park and restoring the soil, which had been degraded and polluted due to the area's abandonment and illegal waste dumping. The site had become a gathering place for drug addicts and homeless people, rendering it unsafe for citizens, particularly children (Refs. 1, 3 & 6). The second phase involved the installation of a well to irrigate the land. The core intervention, completed in 2022, included the planting of 6,400 trees of various local species, a collaboration between the municipality of Cagliari and a local social enterprise (Refs. 2 & 3).

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Implement measures that prevent/manage desertification, soil erosion and landslides
  • Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
  • Restore and protect forests to prevent water runoff and assets loss due to flooding
  • Restore and protect forests for soil stabilisation and prevention of landslides

Climate change mitigation:

  • Increase the availability of green urban space for carbon storage (street tree cover)
  • Restore degraded forests thorough reforestation or ecological restoration to increase carbon storage in degraded forests (e.g. result of logging or fires)

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
  • Restore native species

Main beneficiaries

  • Citizens or community groups
  • Young people and children

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • National government
  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Unknown

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

1. Ministry of the Ecological Transition: it provided the necessary funds to the region (Refs. 3, 5 & 8). 2. Città Metropolitana di Cagliari (metropolitan city of Cagliari): it designed the initiative and outsourced the implementation to a social enterprise (Ref. 5 & 9). 3. IRDE NOSTRU: the social enterprise that implemented the action based on a partnership with the municipality (Ref. 9 & 12).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR - Piano nazionale ripresa e resilienza). The Ministry of the Ecological Transition set a budget of €6,800,000 for plantating trees in different Italian cities, among which was also Cagliari which used part of the founds for this NBS project. The financial aid from MiET comes from the PNRR, which has a section dedicated to sustainability. In fact, the PNRR is inspired by Next Generation EU project's principles, according to which the ecological transition is a key pillar guiding future development. Green Revolution and Ecological Transition, within this framework, focus on enhancing economic sustainability and ensuring an equitable transition to a zero environmental impact society. They also address territory safety, green areas and biodiversity preservation, water and soil pollution elimination and water resource availability. This is the policy strategy according to which the NBS has been developed (Refs. 13 & 14).)
... a local policy or strategy? Unknown

Type of enablers

Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships), Funds, subsidies or investment for GI/NBS in the city (available for the city or provided by the city)

Financing

Total cost

€100,000 - €500,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public national budget

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Expected lowered local temperature
  • Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
  • Expected strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
  • Environmental quality
  • Improved air quality
  • Expected improved air quality
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Achieved increased green space area
  • Increased number of species present
  • Achieved increased number of species present

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Expected gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Safety
  • Increased perception of safety
  • Expected increased perception of safety

Type of reported impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

Yes

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs

Social justice and conflicts, Limited access to NBS benefits for certain socio-economic groups

References

1.
Neri, E (2022). Cagliari, nuovo bosco con 6 mila alberi a Monte Urpinu: maxi polmone verde fino a Molentargius.. Cagliari: Casteddu Online, Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Comune di Cagliari (2022). Cagliari si contende con Valencia il titolo di Capitale Verde Europea 2024. Cagliari: Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Comune di Cagliari (2022). Città Metropolitana di Cagliari. Via ai lavori di forestazione urbana a Monte Urpinu: in arrivo 6400 nuove piante.. Cagliari: Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Tembata, K; Yamamoto, Y; Yamamoto, M; Matsumoto, K (2020). Don't rely too much on trees: Evidence from flood mitigation in China. Science of the total Environment , Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Città Metropolitana di Cagliari (2022). Intervento di forestazione urbana “Un bosco per la città: la foresta urbana di Monte Urpinu”.. Cagliari: Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link];
6.
Congia, A (2021). Monte Urpinu, c’era una volta l’ex Sesto Senso: la disco non c’è più, c'è ancora il degrado.. Web TV Sardegna Live, Accessed on August 2, 2024, [Source link];
7.
Lin, B; Lin, C (2016). Preliminary study of the influence of the spatial arrangement of urban parks on local temperature reduction. Urban Forestry & urban Greening, p. 348-357 Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link];
8.
ANSA (2022). "Un bosco per la città", 6400 piante a Monte Urpinu.. Accessed on August 1, 2024, [Source link];
9.
Città Metropolitana di Cagliari (2022). Avviso di Appalto Aggiudicato. Cagliari: Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link];
10.
Comune di Cagliari (2022). Parco di Monte Urpinu. Cagliari: Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link];
11.
Sanjust, R; Puddu, E; Cuccu, M (2022). Atlante Demografico 2022. Cagliari: Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link];
12.
Irde Nostru (n.d.). Irde Nostru. Accessed on August 5, 2024, [Source link];
13.
Comune di Cagliari (2022). Forestazione urbana, dal Mite 8 milioni di euro per 300 mila nuove piante in 6 Comuni metropolitani. Cagliari: Accessed on August 8, 2024, [Source link];
14.
Italian Government (2021). PNRR: rivoluzione verde e transizione ecologica. Accessed on August 8, 2024, [Source link];
naturescapes bannerInformation about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.