In 2013, Lazio region passed legislation protecting its patrimony of monumental trees, declaring that every civic area should submit a censor within the end of this year 2015. this objective is unlikely to be reached by the deadline, due to scarcity of funds, however, the operation has been initiated by the Corpo Forestale dello Stato (State Forestry Corps) which has the task of documenting ancient trees both in the wilds and on private land, to guarantee their future protection.

Some of these giants are well known and have become tourist attractions, such as the ancient olive in the Fara Sabina area, the 500-year-old St. Francis'holm oak at Sermoneta and the 32 m. high poplar that dominates the celebrated botanical Gardens of Ninfa.

Italy's possesses a huge patrimony of monumnetal trees, known reverently as Patriarchs.

Info: www.monumentaltrees.com/it