FAO and the City of Rome’s Global Library of Trees and Flowers raises awareness about biodiversity and sustainability

Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the City of Rome (Roma Capitale) has further extended the Global Library of Trees and Flowers - FAO Park, by allowing visitors -  the location is nestled in one of the Italian capital’s largest public parks, Villa Doria Pamphili - to follow an educational itinerary through a mobile application. 

Thanks to the FAO Park web app, which was inaugurated at a ceremony held today, it is possible to access interesting news and information about the various tree species located in the seven areas of the park, each representing seven geographical areas of the world, specifically Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Near East, North America and the Pacific Area.

Today’s ceremony served to launch the Global Library of Trees and Flowers – FAO Park initiative’s second phase. Roberto Gualtieri, Mayor of Rome, and Sabrina Alfonsi, Councillor for Agriculture, Environment and Waste Cycle of the Municipality of Rome, also attended the event.  

"Twenty years from now, you will be grown up, as well as witness the remarkable growth of these trees, and you will be able to celebrate the legacy we will leave you, which is what FAO Park represents to us today," Qu said addressing the young people present at the event. "We should plant at least one tree a year, cut fewer to maintain the balance and make sure that the link between FAO and the city of Rome remains unbreakable. FAO represents 194 countries, so the one between FAO and Rome is a bond that unites the whole world,” he said.

As part of the event, students representing different schools in the Rome area joined the event with their teachers while FAO forestry experts were on hand to provide guidance and information to the students as they started using the new web app. Covering an area of 2.5 hectares of land made available by the City of Rome, the itinerary through the Global Library of Trees and Flowers – FAO Park provides a unique immersive experience, with educational paths specifically dedicated to schools and families, and a better understanding of the need to safeguard biodiversity and the importance of forests for the planet.

FAO, together with the City of Rome, had launched the first phase of the project last October as part of the Green Cities initiative, with the planting of an initial group of tree species and plants, specifically 85 trees and 15 plants selected by FAO experts and donated by Italy’s main farmers’ organization Coldiretti. The goal, to make cities greener and to raise awareness, educate and actively engage young people on issues such as biodiversity, sustainability, and global unity.