A forest of a thousand trees on the hill that collapsed after the 2023 flood

A collapsed hill, one of the many in Romagna that might not withstand the devastation caused by last May’s flood. It is a territory to be made safe and preserved. In Sogliano al Rubicone, a municipality of just over 3 thousand inhabitants in the province of Forlì-Cesena, a forest of a thousand paulownia trees is born, capable of absorbing carbon dioxide up to ten times more than other plants.

«An intervention that also has a symbolic value in a place affected by a massive landslide which also damaged the road that connects the town to the E45 highway», says Vincenzo Maria de Rosa, CEO of Cre, a consortium for energy resources . In fact, Cre, together with its subsidiary E.CO – Energia Corrente, was responsible for planting the forest on one side of the hill.

An area of ​​two hectares returned to the community with trees that are widespread in Asia, characterized by rapid growth and the need to plant them one meter deep. An operation to restore and enhance the Romagna Apennines which brought together all 150 members of the consortium, a big company with a turnover of 757 million. That is, large Italian industrial groups. From Conserve Italia, the main shareholder, to Agrentità, Caviro and Apofruit. To get to Bonfiglioli. Everyone is convinced that the planting of the new forest, in collaboration with the Municipality of Sogliano al Rubicone and the Asvis association, is a fundamental piece of the policy for achieving the objectives of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

Piece that integrates the projects of the consortium, engaged in the presentation of its first sustainability report, which will see the light within this year. «A path that we took a year ago, in the wake of ESG policies, also through the training of employees and managers – explains de Rosa -. And not just for reasons of opportunity. We are all convinced of the need to provide filters that concern the impact of our activity on the territory, both from a social point of view and with regards to environmental protection: this is the right direction”.

The road that connects Sogliano al Rubicone to the E45, seriously damaged, is still passable only in alternate directions. Work is underway to make it completely usable. On the other side, the paulownia forest will grow, which is increasingly used also in Italy for the reforestation of areas exposed to climate risk. Within a year it will reach 5 meters in height. Cre, born in 1999 in Cesena, supplies electricity and natural gas to its member industrial groups. In 2023 it withdrew from producers over 220 thousand MWh of energy from renewable sources (out of a total of more than 800 thousand MWh), as well as 63.9 million cubic meters of natural gas.