SIMONATO AND THE DUE CARRARE WOODLAND ECOSYSTEM

The municipality of Due Carrare in the province of Padua plans to allocate two vast areas of land (one spanning approximately 3000 square metres, the other approximately 22,000 square metres) for the development of a woodland ecosystem. An ecosystem is a community of non-living abiotic components, such as soil, the living species that inhabit the area, and the relationships and interactions between them.

Woodland is a key example of an ecosystem, as it features shrubs, trees, grass, animals and many other living species such as fungi and lichens.

Celebrating twenty years of growing organic aromatic plants, Simonato is contributing to the project by providing plants, posts, peat and mycorrhizae. The latter, which gets its name from the Greek mycos (fungus) and rhiza (root), is a natural product that encourages symbiotic association between fungi, soil and the roots of certain plants. The company will donate around 1500 different plants, including maple, ash and oak. These will be planted, in groups of 200-250, at the beginning of March and in the lead up to winter.

The planting cycle will last around a year and a half, and will take account of a range of factors including affinity among the plants, so that each tree and shrub can thrive in ideal conditions.

The Due Carrare project, based on an idea by Carlo Simonato and Rosanna Bertoldin, will be hugely important in terms of creating a vital space not just for residents, but also for all living beings that will benefit from this woodland ecosystem, including bees, butterflies and birds.

Residents have a fundamental role to play in this significant collaboration between Simonato and the municipality, which will see the development of new green spaces. Their job is to look after the trees and shrubs that are planted, so that the woodland ecosystem can grow and become increasingly important to the wellbeing of the environment and all who live there.

Trees are the only living species that give us life. We owe them our gratitude.