Urban forestation: planting trees and sowing are equivalent

25/05/2023 – In urban forestation, financed by the PNRR, sowing is equivalent to planting trees. This was established by the European Commission, which closed the case raised by the Court of Auditors.

This was announced by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (Mase).

What is urban forestation

The plan for the protection and enhancement of urban and extra-urban greenery provides for the planting of 1,650,000 trees by 31 December 2022 and another 6,600,000 by the end of 2024.

The measure is financed with 330 million euros of PNRR resources.

Urban forestation, the case raised by the Court of Auditors

In March, the Court of Auditors underlined how the tree planting was late.


According to the Court, only a few metropolitan cities had gone beyond the planning phase and almost all of them had planted simple seeds in nurseries, instead of placing already grown plants in the chosen places.

Given that the Mase had announced that it had planted over one million and 800 thousand trees in 11 cities, the Court questioned whether the cultivation of the seeds could be equated to the planting of already mature trees.

Urban forestation, Mase: the OK from the EU Commission

With a press release, the Mase illustrated that the European Commission has successfully concluded the verification activity, confirming the reporting on the payment request of December 2022.

The PNRR, explains Mase, envisaged the planting of one million and 650 thousand tree and shrub species as a milestone by the end of 2022. The goal, Mase reiterates, has been exceeded with over two million units, including plants and seeds, destined for 11 metropolitan cities that have planned forestation interventions on their territory.