Forest nurseries and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan: the case of Sicily and Apulia (Italy)

In Italy, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) foresees the planting of ca. 6.6 million trees to establish urban and peri-urban forests in 14 metropolitan cities. This ambitious project requires a significant number of native trees and shrubs, currently unavailable in Italian public and private nurseries. This survey analyzes the state of forest nurseries in two administrative regions of southern Italy, i.e. the “Filici” forest nursery (province of Agrigento, Sicily) and the Gargano Mountain Reclamation Consortium (province of Foggia, Apulia), to evaluate the adequacy of Sicilian and Apulian forest nurseries as potential sources of plant material to meet the requirements of the NRRP. The census carried out at the “Filici” nursery revealed the presence of more than 22,000 seedlings in cultivation, comprising 55 species, 26 genera, and 26 families. The autochthonous species are 43 (78.2%), while the exotic ones are 12 (21.8%). The Gargano Mountain Reclamation Consortium forest nursery has 190,876 seedlings in cultivation. A total of 80 species are present, belonging to 59 genera and 32 families. Of these, 68 (85%) are native species, 12 (15%) are exotic. An analysis of the plant material being cultivated in these forest nurseries shows the presence of a share of autochthonous species of interest for urban reforestation initiatives, however these are still insufficient in number.