This is certified by a body such as PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes), an international non-profit association that promotes sustainable forest management through an independent third-party certification system.
PEFC Italia – whose members include forest owners, public administrations, trade associations, professional bodies, environmental organisations and other parties interested in sustainable forest management – develops national forest management standards that comply with the international PEFC criteria.
In its latest Report (February 2025), PEFC recorded a new milestone for the sector: at the end of 2024, the PEFC-certified area exceeded one million hectares: precisely 1,061,059.26, an increase of 8.2% on the previous year. The number of companies with PEFC Chain of Custody certification also grew, by 16.8%, with 236 new members, bringing the total to 1,585.
Trentino-Alto Adige comes first among the regions for certified area, followed by Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Piedmont. As for certified companies, Veneto keeps the lead, followed by Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige.
Forest management in Italy. A regulatory ‘jungle’
And despite this, the reality is that only part of the forest heritage is currently actively managed, with about 80% of Italian woods not covered by forest management plans.
Moreover, most Italian woods are not centuries old and are cut after 10-20 years. By preventing them from reaching an advanced age, the capacity to store carbon dioxide typical of older forests is greatly reduced.
The reason is simple: many woods are plantations created to be managed as a short-term timber resource, not wild or natural forests.
But there is another typically Italian variable in the matter. Forest management is often fragmented and limited by regulatory constraints, high costs and a poorly organised supply chain. All factors that discourage the conservation of ancient woods.
On the one hand, Italian forest legislation is among the most protective and restrictive in Europe (in this we are always among the first: on paper).
On the other, management that is often fragmented and conditioned by constraints of various kinds leads to a series of consequences. Such as difficult natural regeneration, because
it is often hindered by forests that are too dense, with a high canopy cover that limits the light needed for new trees to grow, and by grazing pressure or game that damages young trees, preventing the generational turnover necessary for the formation of ancient woods.
The silvicultural management needed to preserve monumental trees and ancient woods requires targeted interventions such as selective thinning to reduce competition between young and old trees, encourage regeneration and increase species diversity. It is these interventions that are limited in Italy by costs, organisational complexity and a lack of coordination between bodies.
Cui prodest all this? Naturally, the economic exploitation of the forest heritage. And its beneficiaries.
The Consolidated Forestry Act is the main Italian legislation on forests and forest supply chains, in force since 5 May 2018. Its aim (on paper) is to standardise and coordinate forest policies at national level, which involve several bodies such as the Ministry of Agricultural Policies, the Regions, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Culture.
The decree recognises the forest heritage as part of the nation’s natural capital and as a public-interest asset to be protected for the well-being of present and future generations. It also defines the notion of woodland and regulates sustainable forest management, in line with European and international commitments.
So far, so good. But then, when we get down to specifics, the problems surface.
For example: the Consolidated Act, while prohibiting clear-cutting, requires that woodland not be left unused. That is, if the owner does not cut the coppice wood after a certain period, the land may be considered ‘abandoned’ and its management entrusted to others.
This requires active management and often frequent cutting, which prevents trees from reaching a centuries-old age.
The legislation also provides no differentiated zoning that takes account of the variability of forest habitats and the need to conserve ancient and biodiverse woods. The references to sustainable development in forest planning have also been judged too generic and not explicit enough.
Not that there is no legal protection for ancient trees in Italy (the 2013 law was historic in this respect). But it is limited to individual monumental trees for their historical or landscape value. What is missing, and what many
quarters call for, is specific legislation for the conservation of entire ancient woods and their ecological functions.
A lack of uniform criteria for identification and management. Difficulties in active management and silvicultural interventions. Overlapping and complex regulation. Delays and shortcomings in public management (while 50% of ancient woods in Italy are still privately owned). All obstacles to the proper and effective management of our green ‘grand old men’: who meanwhile must cope, without much help from humans, with climate change, which makes their task of defending and protecting the entire ecosystem, humans included, ever more difficult.
