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Forest in Venice, a message between earth and sky

On the occasion of 2025, which celebrates Venice as the world capital of sustainability, the first international symposium “Forest in Venice” was held on Friday 23 May at the museum and palace of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, a project for the sustainability of the planet from space research.

The conference, in addition to greetings from various local and regional authorities, saw the participation of numerous experts from various Italian and foreign universities, institutions and foundations, and had the aim of taking stock of the future of the planet as seen by well-known Agencies, Universities, international scientists present (NASA, Earth DNA, MIT Boston, University of Arizona, Fondazione Venezia capitale mondiale sostenibile, G20, UNESCO, Cineca, Dainese Group). At the conference, coordinated by Laura Villani and Piero Pellegrini, respectively president and vice president of the Venice Forest Committee, internationally renowned figures such as astronaut Paolo Nespoli, Guillermo Trotti, president of Earth DNA and Dava Newmann, director of NASA's MIT Media Lab, contributed.

Among the many speakers present was Sergio Guidi, president of the Patriarchs of Nature association, who wanted to launch an alarm signal from Venice for the loss of biodiversity and of the large trees that are strategic for our future. Trees are the Earth's armor and the green patriarchs support the balance of our ecosystem; they are fundamental pillars for the planet and for our very survival. We cannot afford to lose them, especially if we want to effectively combat climate change. The message was also received by NASA scientists who are studying which plants will best adapt to being taken into space.

In the afternoon, the Chrism olive tree, donated by the Patriarchi della Natura association, characterized by snow-white olives, was planted in the garden of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista. The young olive tree planted was reproduced from a monumental plant that lived in Calabria from which the Basilian monks obtained the holy oil intended for confirmation and extreme unction. This is the first of the patriarchal trees that will populate the main monumental gardens of Venice, thus forming an itinerary in the city to discover the most significant historical gardens of Venice. The hope is that the numerous visitors who come to this unique city in the world will be able to grasp, among the many historical and architectural beauties, the importance of saving the great trees of the past that are our future from extinction and will take action to help save the arboreal patriarchs of their countries.