Reforestation in Practice
Back to hot southern Italy. We would like to see how the COCOON works in practice. Charlotte informs us that we can visit a reforestation project in Calabria, not far from Sicily. On our way there we traverse hot and dry landscapes. How are the seedlings that were planted here half a year ago coping with these conditions?
At the site, project leader Antonella Totaro receives us on behalf of Land Life Company. The landowner is also there and shows us a piece of land that looks like a lunar surface. “In the past, the soil was excavated here for construction material,” the owner explains. Now he wants to make the land fertile again with native, fruit-bearing trees. And it seems to work! Virtually all fig, pomegranate and olive trees are healthy. With their fresh green leaves they defy the drought. Only a few seedlings have not made it and some lids have disappeared. “That’s normal,” Antonella assures us. She and the landowner are satisfied.