Italians love the woods. But how much do they really know them?
The woods have become a kind of moral compass: 94.6% of Italians consider them fundamental against the climate crisis. It’s not a superficial feeling. Forests are recognized as having a real role in protecting against extreme phenomena and protecting biodiversity. This is confirmed by the national study conducted by the University of Bari for Sorgenia.
However, there is a clear distance between perception and reality: the majority of the population overestimates the extent of Italian forestry. In some regions the gap exceeds thirteen percentage points compared to official data. The forest is therefore very present in our imagination, a little less in real geography.
This discrepancy is the first sign to read carefully: feeling like “a country of woods” does not mean being one.
The green we want, not always the one we have
In post-pandemic Italy the forest has taken on a new function: it must be close, reachable, everyday. 57.8% of the population asks for local forests, not adventurous weekends. 83% would like more forests and less cultivated land.
A desire for nature which, however, risks turning into consumption of nature if not accompanied by information and responsibility. The demand for greenery is growing, but often without understanding what it means to make it exist and survive.
A physical relationship with the forest, which is not enough to transform it into awareness
Italians define themselves as more “foresters” than one would be led to believe: almost eight out of ten people enter the woods or large parks at least once a month.
And then there is that number that tells of the intimacy of the relationship: 45.1% have hugged a tree at least once. In Umbria it is the absolute majority. Walking barefoot, meditating, seeking silence: small practices that reveal a growing need for direct contact with what is not artificial.
But familiarity is not the same as knowledge. You experience the forest as users, not as custodians. The risk is an uninformed romanticism: pleasant, but insufficient.
Where management is modern, trees suffer less
The #RigeneraBoschi project, conducted by Sorgenia with the University of Milan, offers another piece of the picture. Forests monitored with Tree Talker sensors show that sustainable management increases tree growth and their resilience to climate stress, up to 43% more on an annual basis in Pollino.
The fact is unequivocal: leaving a forest to itself does not mean saving it, especially in a climate that changes more rapidly than its ability to adapt.
The forest needs care, technique, planning. And here comes the real question: are we ready to support this treatment even when it involves complex choices, costs, sacrifices, rather than simply hugging a trunk?
Love yes, but a more adult pact is needed
Almost half of Italians have already made that simple and symbolic gesture: hugging a tree. It’s a start. It tells of a country that wants to reconnect with the nature from which it comes. But it also tells of a relationship that is still fragile, in which sensitivity runs much faster than knowledge.
For a hug to be truly useful, it cannot last an instant: it must become an assumption of collective responsibility. It means finding out more, demanding better policies, accepting that taking care of a forest is never a neutral action.
If you’ve ever hugged a tree, you know that feeling exists.
The next step is to ask yourself what you are willing to do to keep that tree standing.
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