For the first time since the Middle Ages, Italy’s forests cover a larger area than agricultural land. They now span 60,000 square miles of the Italian Peninsula, primarily concentrated in mountainous regions, representing the gradual reversion of cultivated land back to woodland.

The milestone was officially reached in 2020 but was only revealed this week in a report published by the National Union of Mountain Municipalities and Entities. The report emphasizes the significant benefits of reforestation, particularly noting the forest’s role in providing work for free.

In the municipality of Marcetelli, located in the Province of Rieti, 94% of the land is covered in trees. The forests here provide essential natural functions such as carbon storage, water and air filtration, and erosion prevention. If industrial solutions were required to achieve these functions, it would cost approximately $9.5 million.

Forest Health
The expansion of forest cover does not guarantee forest health. The summer of 2025 saw 94,070 hectares burned by wildfires—nearly double the 2024 toll—with Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, and Campania bearing the brunt. Prolonged drought and heat waves linked to climate change leave forests tinder-dry for months, while firefighting budgets struggle to keep pace.

In the Alps, the spruce bark beetle (bostrico) has ravaged high-altitude plantations, destroying an estimated 2.7 M cubic meters of timber in Trentino alone between 2019 and mid-2024. Warmer winters allow beetle populations to explode, turning economically valuable spruce monocultures into biological graveyards. Adapting forest composition to climate realities—mixing species, restoring native broadleaves—requires exactly the kind of active management that Italy currently lacks.

Relocating
Additionally, the increase in forested acreage is creating a somewhat ironic reversal of rural Italy’s emigration crisis.

For the last 2 decades, young people have increasingly left mountain and rural-plains areas for the big cities, resulting in the abandonment of marginal land or traditionally farmed/pastured lands, as well as an emptying of small towns—many of which have habitation records going back to medieval times.

Since 2021, however, 932 Italian municipalities showed a positive net migration of 10 per 1,000 inhabitants, with a significant share of these municipalities being located in heavily forested areas.

Geography
Discounting the coastlines, Italy’s geography is pretty straightforward. The Alps give way to the pre-Alpine hills which fall into the North Italian Plain, which give way to the Apennines until you reach the far south. These three mountain regions and the 3,598 municipalities nested therein account for three-quarters of Italy’s total forested area, even though they harbor just 13.5% of the country’s population.

It's a statistic that captures their rurality, but also highlights the benefit beyond these trends in migration.

For locally endangered species like bears and wolves, more woods in mountain areas will go a long way toward supporting their populations.

There are ample opportunities to use these new forests for eco-tourism and sustainable forestry, while expansion of habitat for animals like wild boar and red deer offers increased bounty for Italy’s hunters who supply so many national restaurants with these favored game meats.

The report nonetheless points out that many of these forests weren’t just appearing out of nowhere—they’re taking over agricultural land where farmers and ranchers used to ply there own trade.

All things being equal, however, the supply of farmland and pasture in Italy was clearly in a glut, otherwise the demand for agricultural products would have kept farming families there to satisfy it. In economic terms, the demand for living close to nature has grown, while the demand from living in farming communities has declined.

The report highlights that many of these forests did not appear spontaneously; rather, they are taking over agricultural land that was once utilised by farmers and ranchers.

Overall, it is evident that there is an excess of farmland and pasture in Italy. If that were not the case, the demand for agricultural products would keep farming families in these areas to meet it. Economically speaking, the demand for living close to nature has increased, while the desire to reside in farming communities has decreased.
   
Source: forestmachinemagazine.com and  uisjournal.com