THE GREAT TREES OF THE FOREST

Bio∆4 - “New instruments to enhance the biodiversity of cross-border forest ecosystems” ITAT2021 A project financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the context of the 2014 - 2020 Interreg V-A Italy - Austria programme (2017 call for tenders). The Italian portion is co-financed by the national rotating fund (C.I.P.E. - Interdepartmental Committee for Economic Planning - resolution).

PEFC/18-22-13/03 Promuoviamo la Gestione Sostenibile delle Foreste www.pefc.it

THE GREAT TREES OF THE FOREST

Majestic silver fir at Cansiglio Forest (Photo: Archivio Carabinieri Forestali) Large silver fir trunk and fungi (Fomes fomentarius L.)

Centuries-old beech tree in Alpago-Cansiglio (Photo: F. Padovan)

Witnesses of time

A great tree is exceptionally large in size, taller than average, majestic and centuries old. But a great tree also has a huge cultural value, because its growth rings are the repository of the history of a place and generations and generations of human beings. It is a great tree when it exceeds 35 metres in height and 70 cm in diameter.

Great trees are a unique heritage that must not be taken for granted or lost.

Great trees:

• embody a high level of biological complexity and host multiple microhabitats;

• have survived adversities, sickness, polluting agents and climatic changes;

• are carriers of resistant genes thanks to which they have lived on;

• ensure the existence of valuable food networks for many organisms and enable animal communities to nest and breed, acting as daytime and night-time shelter for many animal species.

Respecting and protecting

the great trees means

preserving biodiversity and

the surrounding ecosystems.