Ecosystem services and biodiversity for the Amiata Forestry Consortium

It is called “Bosco Serv.E.” : the forest as a function of ecosystem services and biodiversity.

This is a pilot project of the Amiata Forestry Consortium which aimed to test the standards and obtain three new certifications for the Amiata forests: the two PEFC certifications Ecosystem services of suitability for forest well-being and Ecosystem services for tourist-recreational functions , and the Biodiversity Friend® Forest certification already implemented for agriculture, but never tested in the forestry sector, by the World Biodiversity Association Onlus (Wba).

The results of the project have been taken dated Monday, October 28, 2024.

“The Amiata beech forest – explains the president of the Amiata Forestry Consortium, Fiorenzo Caselli – is an example at a national level , precisely because of the sustainable forestry management carried out over the years by the Amiata Forestry Consortium, as demonstrated by the three important new certifications issued to us”.

“The new forestry certifications resulting from 'Bosco Serv.E.' are very important – explains Dr. Giovanni Alessandri, coordinator of the project – because they have a double impact , both from the point of view of tourist appeal , as a guarantee of sustainability of our forests, and by providing higher scores to the area compared to others for the calls for tenders of the Complement for Rural Development of the Tuscany Region and thus guaranteeing the fundability of many projects”.

The activities were aimed at certifying the state of health of the Amiata woods and relaunching an increasingly sustainable forestry, also through innovative management techniques , which allow for an increase in the biodiversity of the woods and the ecosystem services they produce , in addition to timber, therefore, the landscape, hydrogeological defence, tourist and recreational services and well-being and health .

Thanks to this important project, the Amiata Forestry Consortium received the award issued by PEFC Italia and Legambiente as the best “Sustainable Forestry Community” in November 2023 in Rimini at Ecomondo.

The project, funded by the Economic and Financial Document (Defr) 2020 of the Tuscany Region , was born in 2022 for the innovation of the forestry supply chain which aims at an evolution of forest management systems, re-evaluating and monitoring the production process of forests, starting from active planning and management, with an innovative perspective of the ecosystem services that they can provide and in particular those linked to biodiversity.

Several entities collaborated in a synergic manner: PEFC Italia, Wba Project and CSQA , Studio Agricis - which took care of coordinating the activities with the forestry doctor Giovanni Alessandri -, the Dafne Department of the University of Tuscia , in Viterbo, with Professor Rodolfo Picchio, and the Amiata Forestry Consortium , with the forestry doctors Paolo Franchi and Cristiana Contri.

The Amiata Forestry Consortium was the first Italian body in 2003 to have PEFC certified the sustainable management of its forests. After 20 years, once again, it obtains as the first national body, three new forestry certifications.

The certification that has attracted the most attention is certainly the PEFC one for suitability for forestry well-being , which has certified for the first time in Italy that three areas in the Amiata beech forest are suitable for “Forest Bathing” or therapeutic immersions or forest bathing.

Forest wellness activity is the new frontier between tourism and wellness .
The three areas, Foresta delle Monache in the Municipality of Santa Fiora, Foresta della Contessa in the Municipality of Castel del Piano and Foresta del Guardiano in Seggiano, therefore represent a jewel in the crown for the territory of Amiata Grossetana, to which two areas were later added in Amiata Senese. (Source: https://www.grossetonotizie.com/ )