The story of a forest bought and saved thanks to citizens and social networks

From a post on Facebook to over two hundred donations. So the “Augustine Wood” it was bought to prevent it from being torn down. Anna Zonari tells the secrets of the initiative born from below, hoping it can be replicated, and asks that the area be included in the protected park of the Casentinesi Forests. On May 14, when the more than 200 donors will gather for a picnic at the edge of the forest, they will see what they have saved for the first time. Ash trees, Turkey oaks, hornbeams, birds, foxes and many other species are still there, on the borders of the Casentinesi forest national park: the citizens have beaten the chainsaws, the Agostino wood will now no longer be touched.

“A wonderful feeling, like having received so many responses and donations of support. I really could not imagine it,” she says happily Anna Zonariprotagonist of the story who – thanks to the contribution of hundreds of people – made it possible to make the Corniolino wood which had to be destroyed.

It all started last September when the Ferrarese Zonari learns that a forest of about 12 hectares just outside the protected park of the Casentinesi Forests, in the municipality of Santa Sofia, in the province of Forlì-Cesena, it is about to be sold by private individuals to a company that will cut it down to obtain wood. Contact the owners, ask them for time for a counter offer and write a post on Facebook.

Environmentalist and activist of Parents For Future, Zonari has in his heart the hope that someone will answer, that contributions will arrive. “I didn’t believe it, in a few hours fifty people contacted me and then more and more – she tells Green&Blue -. People of all ages and budgets, some to donate a few euros, some five hundred. They really moved me.”

Relationships, friendships and the idea of ​​naming the wood ad Agostino Barbieri, forest carabiniere who died prematurely in 2021, “a man in love with nature, who has helped many people”. In a few weeks, the amount needed to purchase the forest – which will then be entrusted to the Biodiversity and Forestry Fund for management – is not only reached but doubles thanks to the grassroots appeal. “With almost 38 thousand euros donated by two hundred people, we have decided to buy another twelve hectares, for a total of twenty-four to be protected”.

The forest is safe, but not entirely. “The wonderful news – explains Zonari – is that the trees will not be cut down, but that portion of land is outside the boundaries of the protected area of national park of the Casentinesi forests, so in that area, for example, you can hunt. That’s why now our great wish would be for it to be incorporated into the protected area, we are trying to make it happen”.

Now the friends of “A forest for Agostino”, aware of how a simple and small social campaign has made it possible to protect an entire forest, hope that their gesture can inspire other realities. “If we have succeeded, others can do it too. Some have already contacted us in the hope of protecting certain natural areas, we will see what can be done. In the meantime, we and the donors will put up a commemorative plaque entitled to Agostino Barbieri on May 14th and we will enjoy the beauty of the forest from the outside”.

Already, from the outside, because as Anna Zonari recalls “we believe in the idea of ​​not exploiting it, not abusing its trees and its fruits and leaving it as it is, impenetrable and rich in biodiversity. The spirit is to conserve the forest and leave it to nature. At most, there are two external paths to skirt it, in which the Trekking Italia group (among the donors, ed.) organizes walks”.

In the meantime, the promoters of the initiative continue to question themselves. They wonder “how did it happen that in a short time so many people, just from a post born on social media, are committed to protecting this unknown treasure trove of biodiversity?”. The answer they have found, they believe, is contained “in the commitment carried out by ordinary citizens who have received a positive return from people who still have faith in their neighbour. Many, by donating, have told me that they feel part of the change, of wanting to bring hope and concreteness to the environment. Today – Zonari comments – we share what has been done precisely so that this formula can be replicated elsewhere, we hope to generate stimuli, perhaps a circuit of woods saved and protected thanks to funds to celebrate weddings, graduations, births. It would be good for nature, but also for our lungs: let’s imagine reforesting the Po Valley for example. How nice it would be!” the activist says.

Finally, it’s nice to reveal even a little secret, how saving a forest can also protect the past. “The owners of the forest were the first to be happy about not having to sell wood to industries that would have demolished everything: they grew up there, playing among the plants when they were children. Now, in addition to the forest, their memories are also safe” .