Last updated: October 2021
The City of Milan intends to carry out a functional intervention in the valley of Ticinello for the strengthening of the environmental matrix and of the structural characteristics aimed at improving the ecological connection. The project, which aims to contribute to the valorisation, strengthening and conservation of the natural heritage, as well as expand local biodiversity, through the realization of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, is necessary for the realization, development and enhancement of large-scale ecological corridors already identified by the instruments of territorial planning (1).
Ticinello Agrarian Park (Giuseppe Mazza 2015)
Giuseppe Mazza. (2015). Ticinello Agrarian Park [Photograph]. Retrieved 08/06/2018 From the Association of the Parco Ticinello Committee (www.parcoticinello.it)
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
- Green corridors and green belts
- Blue infrastructure
- Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
Key challenges
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Improvements to water quality
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Green space creation and/or management
- Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
- Preservation of natural heritage
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of semi-natural blue areas, Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Protection of natural ecosystems
Project objectives
The NBS aims at increasing and enhancing biodiversity in the vast valley of Ticinello. More in details:
- To ensure the consolidation and enhancement, through natural or oriented forms, of vegetation and woodland forms, making extensive use of the spread and use of native species;
- To encourage the reconstitution of plant and animal habitats and ecosystems, in opposition to their further fragmentation, including the identification of appropriate ecological corridors where necessary;
- To recover, to reconstruct and to enhance the historical plot of the water-vegetation relationship that characterizes the landscape and the agrarian territories, avoiding the alteration of the water and rural roads, and encouraging the provision of ripeness trees;
- To address the renationalisation and retraining interventions to be implemented by the managing body, municipalities, other territorial or functional bodies concerned, as well as by private individuals (1).
Implementation activities
In this design proposal, the Ticinello park area will have a significant increase (around 60,000 square meters) of real woods under law, as well as a system planting of a large shrub-like shrub in a section of the Ticinello rocks. The appropriate collocations studied create connections between the same naturalistic elements and the surrounding area. (1)
The Project in summary:
- Embossing, forest hedges, swabs, wetlands.
- The predisposition of furnitures and structures to didactic function.
- Renaturalization of areas affected by improper use.
- Cultivation treatments for forestry plants.
- Faunistic functionality of project interventions
- Light structures for the enhancement of fauna.
- Communication and dissemination of the Large-Scale project and local scale. (1).
The Ticinello Agricultural Park is a project of the Municipality of Milan that covers an area of 90 hectares. The "Milano Città di campagna" project is part of this larger project.
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
- Create new habitats
- Preserve and strengthen habitat connectivity
- Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect native species
Biodiversity restoration:
- Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
- Restore native species
- Restore ecological connectivity
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Citizens or community groups
- Young people and children
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Dissemination of information and education
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The City of Milan is the leader of a larger network of partners and supporters from the Province of Milan (which has become Metropolitan City) and the Lombardy Region, as well as numerous Associations (including the Ticinello Park Board) (1).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(The drafting of the project welcomed and developed the addresses of the Rural Development Plan and the new Community Agri-environmental Policy for peri-urban areas. The Milan City Council, the Province of Milan and the Lombardy Region signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Rural Development in Milan with the Consortium Dam - Distretto Agricolo Milanese (1).)
Financing
Total cost
€500,000 - €2,000,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
- Private Foundation/Trust
- Other
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
- Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Reduced biodiversity loss
- Increased number of species present
- Increased spread of native/heirloom/open-pollinated seed
- Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
- Other
Economic impacts
- Stimulate development in deprived areas
- Other
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved liveability
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- Unknown
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
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
1. Parco Ticinello (no date), NBS website, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
2. Corriere della Sera (2017), Il grande Parco del Ticinello: i 3 anni della rinascita, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
3. LifeGate (no date), Article on the aftermath of the project, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
4. Varese News (2017), Project impact,, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
5. Fauna Viva (no date), Milano Città di Campagna: la Valle del Ticinello, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
6. Cives (no date), History of the park, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
7. Parco Ticinello (no date), Executive Project, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
2. Corriere della Sera (2017), Il grande Parco del Ticinello: i 3 anni della rinascita, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
3. LifeGate (no date), Article on the aftermath of the project, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
4. Varese News (2017), Project impact,, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
5. Fauna Viva (no date), Milano Città di Campagna: la Valle del Ticinello, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
6. Cives (no date), History of the park, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
7. Parco Ticinello (no date), Executive Project, Available at Source link (Accessed 12-9-2020)
Ticinello Agrarian Park (Giuseppe Mazza 2009)
Giuseppe Mazza. (2009). Ticinello Agrarian Park [Photograph]. Retrieved 08/06/2018 From the Association of the Parco Ticinello Committee (www.parcoticinello.it)
Ticinello Agrarian Park (Giuseppe Mazza 2010)
Giuseppe Mazza. (2010). Ticinello Agrarian Park [Photograph]. Retrieved 08/06/2018 From the Association of the Parco Ticinello Committee (www.parcoticinello.it)