In Italy, large-scale reforestation in the Alps has led to a loss of biodiversity

A large-scale reforestation campaign carried out in the 1930s in the northern Italian Alps under Benito Mussolini’s regime has led to significant environmental consequences nearly a century later. 

For five months, scientists studied areas near Lake Como, where, during the dictatorship, natural mountain meadows were cleared on a massive scale and replaced with uniform forest plantations.

The results were revealing:

• an average of 7 plant species were recorded in the spruce plantations;
• 18 species were recorded in the nearby deciduous forests;
• in natural meadows—37 species.

Thus, plant diversity in artificial forests was reduced by more than half, and compared to natural meadows, it was reduced by nearly five times.

The researchers explain that the key problem lies in the characteristics of the spruce:

• it maintains a dense canopy throughout the year;
• it creates constant shade that blocks the growth of understory vegetation;
• its needles acidify the soil;
• the nutrient cycle is slowed down.

As a result, the soil loses its biological activity, and the ecosystem gradually becomes impoverished.

Scientists have determined that the ecosystem’s so-called functional evenness has decreased by approximately 30%, indicating a loss of the forest’s ability to effectively support natural processes.

In fact, as the researchers note, the artificial plantings did not restore the natural ecosystem but instead displaced its biodiversity.

Environmentalists emphasize that this case serves as a warning for modern environmental policy, as a significant portion of global forest restoration programs continue to rely on planting monocultures—a single tree species.

According to scientists, such approaches may improve climate metrics on paper but do not restore fully functional natural ecosystems.

Similar imbalances are observed in other regions of the world, where agricultural and market decisions lead to crop surpluses or destruction due to a lack of demand, further highlighting the problem of insufficiently balanced natural resource management.