Catania, Italy
City population: 290083
Duration: 2016 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: 34500 m2
Type of area: Previous derelict area, Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature, Cultural Heritage Area
Last updated: October 2021

The association Legambiente Catania has presented a project to protect and enhance the biodiversity of the Cibali forest, a natural reserve in Catania close to the volcano Etna. The area has been subjected to strong anthropogenic pressures in the last decades, and the area is home of several species of flora and fauna. The main aim of this intervention Is to protect endangered species and to preserve the services the forest provides in terms of air quality regulation and heat mitigation. In addition, the entire zone is a cultural heritage for the whole island (Ref.1.)

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Parks and urban forests
  • Large urban parks or forests

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Tourism support
  • Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
  • Preservation of natural heritage
  • Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Ecological restoration of ecosystems

Project objectives

The goal of the intervention is to protect one of the few natural areas in the Cibali neighbourhood in Catania and to regenerate some of its parts with the plantation of plants. The overall goal is to protect the biodiversity of the area, including flora and fauna of the forest. Other goals include to protect endangered species and to preserve the services the forest provides in terms of air quality regulation and heat mitigation. (Ref.2)

Implementation activities

In order to reach the above-mentioned goals, Legambiente aims to intervene to improve the natural structure of the forest, by realizing green corridors inside the forest to make it more accessible for tourists and visitors. In addition, some areas will be transformed into social biological horts (Ref.2.)

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect species

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Non-government organisation/civil society

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
  • Co-management/Joint management

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Legambiente Catania is the public non-profit association which started the intervention, by requesting the permission to implement their initiative. The project has to be approved by the municipality, with the consultancy as well of the department of the cultural heritage of the city and the local committees for forests protection. (Ref.1.)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (There is the presence of a regional law (l.r. 16/1996) which states that an area covered for more than 50% of arboreal areas it can be classified as forest and it is included in the regulation of each municipality (Ref.2.))
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (The intervention was influenced by the regulation at local and regional level on forests importance and preservation, namely "Rapporto sullo stato delle Foreste in SICILIA 2010" (Report on forests conditions in Sicily 2010), which refers to the importance of the areas for biodiversity and cultural reasons, and the competences at local level on the care of the areas (Ref.3.))

Financing

Total cost

€50,000 - €100,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

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

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution
  • Provision of land
  • Provision of goods
  • Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
  • Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
  • Private sector (businesses, financial institution)

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Environmental quality
  • Improved air quality
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems

Economic impacts

  • More sustainable tourism

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Unknown

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

Ref.1. LiveSiciliaCatania (2016). Proteggere i boschi di Cibali La proposta di Legambiente. Available at Source link (Accessed 20-6-2020)
Ref. 2. Legambiente (2016). Un bosco dentro la città. Le proposte di Legambiente per la tutela del bosco di Cibali. (Website not available in 2020)
Ref.3. Coordinamento Dipartimento regionale Comando Corpo Forestale della regione Siciliana (2010). Rapporto sullo stato delle Foreste in SICILIA 2010. Compagnia delle foreste. Palermo: pp. 1-132, Available at Source link (Accessed 20-6-2020)
Ref. 4 Consorzio Centro Direzione Cibali (2016), STUDIO DI FATTIBILITÀ E MASTERPLAN PER LA VARIANTE URBANISTICA DEL COMPRENSORIO DI CIBALI, Available at Source link, (Accessed 22-7-2020)