• Emilia-Romagna

• Regional Parks

• Apennines - Po River Basin - Rivers and Lakes

Cento Laghi Regional Park manages Alta Val Parma State-owned Forest which, covering 1,500 hectares, represents one of the most important state-owned forests in Regione Emilia-Romagna, and one of the oldest in the Apennines of Emilia.
It is the result of a reforestation activity carried out by man about one century ago after the senseless deforestation following the industrialization stage.
This activity, which involved the whole valley, aimed at limiting the hydrogeological instability and at regulating the timber production; the most significant results have been obtained in landscape and, as a consequence, in the tourist field. Unfortunately, in the long term, the reforestation material and techniques have revealed only partially adequate, and now we can ascertain the consequences: the use of alpine and northern species like the Spruce Fir at low altitudes is leading to a gradual transformation of the forest.
Besides the normal forest evolution, like in many other parts of the world, since 2003 serious damages linked to the global climate change have been ascertained: violent infestations by the Ips insect are destroying considerable forest areas.
Since Val Parma Forest is a state-owned forest situated within the perimeter of Appennino Tosco-Emiliano National Park and within a Site of Community Importance (SCI), as well as in a Special Protection Area (SPA) of Natura 2000 European Network, Cento Laghi Regional Park has decided not to implement intensive struggle policies against the infesting insect, but it has only been monitoring the event and guaranteeing the safety of visitors.
However, since the succession in the latest years of mild winters and dry summers has favored the diffusion of the disease, it is necessary to urgently implement measures to safeguard the whole forest area.

The Regional Park:

• has created a Work Team with the representatives of the local Authorities: Appennino Tosco Emiliano National Park; Appennino Parma Est Mountain Community: Valli del Cedra e del Parma Regional Park; University of Parma; Biodiversity Territorial Office of the National Forest Service, Lucca; Environment Territorial Coordination Appennino Tosco-Emiliano National Park; Edmund Mach Foundation from San Michele all'Adige; Studio Tecnico Associato Tannini
• has planned the safety measures regarding the main service roads of the state-owned forest; almost 4,000 trees have been cut and 650 plants of autochthonous broadleaf trees have been planted along the roads and in other areas
• has planned 4 Projects according to what established by the Rural Development Regional Program for a total amount of Euros 600,000, including forest and infrastructural measures to improve the possibility to visit the area from the year 2009.

In order to give people the opportunity to understand the issues linked to the state of conservation of Val Parma state-owned forest, a thematic brochure (PDF - 1.4Mb) has been published.

Province: Parma Region: Emilia-Romagna