At the end of October 2018, strong sirocco winds from storm Vaia devastated large areas of the Eastern Alps, felling millions of trees and stripping entire slopes.
In response to this devastation, and on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the University of Padua, the Territory and Agro-Forestry Systems Department - TESAF conceived and implemented the Bosco 800 project, in agreement with the Municipality of Asiago and Veneto Agricoltura, with the aim of greening a forest area that will remain named as the ‘Bosco degli 800 anni dell’Università degli Studi di Padova’.
Bosco 800 is located in Asiago, in the vicinity of the Croce di Sant'Antonio, along CAI path 832.
Through an agreement with the municipality of Asiago, an area to be reforested covering a total of 8 hectares has been identified in a historical and highly visible area between Asiago and Monte Zebio, dear to the writer Mario Rigoni Stern, who received an honorary degree from the University of Padua in Forestry and Environmental Sciences. In his works, the writer emphasised the close connection between natural laws and the behaviour of forest ecosystems, and on this basis criticised the reforestation methods adopted on the Altipiano dei Sette Comuni at the end of the First World War, almost foreseeing the serious events that such management would entail for the forest heritage following the Vaia storm.
Approximately 2,000 young plants of different species were planted on each hectare. Replacing the crashed spruce trees, specimens of larch, beech, rowan, laburnum, silver fir, birch, mountain ash and willow were planted. The variety of the newly planted species ensures the biodiversity of the site and at the same time promotes the future development of a forest that is resistant and resilient to climate change and possible extreme natural events.
‘We are and want to continue to be more and more sustainable, in all our choices: from the macro to the more everyday ones. And the reforestation project we have initiated is a concrete example of our commitment,' says Rector Daniela Mapelli. ’The University of Padua makes sustainability, in all its forms - environmental, economic, social - a founding value. The University, so closely linked to these lands, for 800 years rooted in the territory that hosts it, felt the need to intervene, to set skills and passion in motion: we hope that the ‘800-year-old forest’ can remain a visible memory of our commitment’.
The reforestation work, which began in autumn 2022, was made possible thanks to the generosity of many people, companies, organisations and associations who believed in the importance of this project.
Special thanks to:
Crédit Agricole Italia
Deloitte & Touche S.p.A.
GBR Rossetto S.p.A.
Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals Italy S.p.A.
Other supporters
Alì S.p.A.
Unox S.p.A.
Pro-Gest S.p.A.
Cherry Bank S.p.A.
Nice Footwear S.p.A.
Unired S.r.l.
Compressors Aircomp S.r.l.
Other donors
Francesco Affaitati
Maristella Agosti
Elena Autizi
Giovanna Baldissin
Davide Barban
Caterina Barone
Alessandro Boaro
Eleonora Boccaletto
Manuel Bogoni
Le bomboniere di Beatrice e Nicola
Le bomboniere di Meri e Giulio
Luca Bonadies
Lucio Bonafede
Alessio Bonetto
Carlo Bortolato
Marzia Bottaro
Marina R. Brustolon
Monica Bud
Grazia Busa
Silvia Casella
Marta Cavalli
Camilla Cavicchi
Fabio Cerabolini
Francesca Chiara
Alessio Cianchi
Lucia Colombo
Serenella Contesso
Isobel Cordone
Roberta e Stefano Corsi
Lucia Cumer
Erica Da Pra
Alessia Dainese
Lisetta Dainese
Alessandro Dal Corso
Alessandra Dalla Costa
Patrizia Debetto
Eugenio Di Rauso
Lorenza Dindiani
Davide Donà
Milena Endrizzi
Martina Favero
Christian Ferretti Castellani
Enrico Fontana
Gloria Funari
Silvia Fusari
Ludovico Galeazzo
Nicola Galvan
Elisa Giampietri
Nicola Gianni
Silvia Guerzoni
Maria Teresa Guidi
Diego Guidolin
Lorenzo Iannuzzi
Matteo Innao
Fatemeh Iranpour
Alberto Lanzavecchia
Francesca Lorandi
Fabio Manenti
Bettina Manfrè
Agata Mannino
Martino Margoni
Andrea Marigo
Giulio Marin
Claudia Martin
Andrea Martinelli
Annalisa Massaccesi
Riccardo Mattuzzi
Luca Melotti
Marco Menorello
Roberto Arturo Meregalli
Paolo Michielin
Alberto Novaco
Lucia Panizzolo
Luigi Pantarotto
Annachiara Panzeri
Leopoldo Passazi
Martina Perin
Gaia Parisi
Francesco Peruzzi
Luca Pezzato
Ludovica Piovan
Paola Pirillo
Diego Pituello
Bianca Pivotto
Francesca Postacchini
Alberto Pozzobon
Marco Raffo
Henry Redondo
Marta Rossi
Mauro Sabbadin
Gioia Sacchi
Brunella Santi
Giacomo Scenini
Carlo Alberto Scotton
Elena Squizzato
Roberto Taschetto
Mariaelena Terrassan
Gabriele Tomasi
Diego Tonini
Camilla Trolese Macchi
Antonio Trovato
Tobia Turato
Alessandro Turco
Tiziana Urso
Lisa Vacca
Eva Vallarin
Valentina Vampo
Antonino Volpi
Alessia Zanetti
Paola Zanolin
Cristina Zaramella
Veronica Zatta
Cristiano Zonta
