Landscape protection, landmark ruling in Pienza: mayor and environment manager convicted for failure to care for a centuries-old oak tree

Historic ruling issued by the Court of Siena on landscape protection: the judge for preliminary investigations Roberta Malavasi has in fact condemned the mayor of Pienza, Fabrizio Fè, and the head of the Environment, Heritage and Maintenance area of the Municipality of Pienza, Riccardo Fè, because, despite being “burdened with the relevant legal obligation,” they failed to take “the necessary actions for the safety and preservation of a natural beauty,” namely the centuries-old oak tree known as the Quercia delle Checche, planted in 1760 and on which the declaration of cultural interest is in force. According to the judge, mayor and environment manager had not prevented “the collapse of a large branch of the aforementioned plant and thus the destruction and alteration of the aforementioned common beauty.”

The incident dates back to August 2, 2017, when a large branch of the Oak of the Cows collapsed after another large branch had detached three years earlier, altering the balance of the tree, which needed supports. The municipality made no effort to prevent the worst, and the supports would not arrive until two months after the August 2017 collapse. The affair had been taken to heart by Pd deputy Michele Anzaldi, who has always been attentive to environmental issues: the oak, a true monumental tree that is part of the landscape of the Val d’Orcia, one of the most beautiful and intact landscape areas in Italy, had become the object of the attentions of many citizens, who after the 2014 collapse had mobilized to save the plant, but without obtaining adequate responses until the second collapse (an association in defense of the oak was also born). Even, in June 2017, the Checche Oak had been the first green monument in Italy to be recognized by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage.

“This is a historic ruling, which reminds a municipal administration of its duties to protect the landscape,” Anzaldi comments. “A ruling that should make administrations all over Italy reflect: even in the face of the economic difficulties they are forced to face, the scarcity of resources, when there is an environmental emergency, municipalities have a duty to intervene immediately and by any means, especially involving volunteers and associations that are willing to help.” The Oak of the Fags, in fact, the congressman explains, “is not just any tree. Anyone who has had the good fortune to travel through the Val d’Orcia in Tuscany knows what we are talking about: a monumental plant, in the true sense of the word, a 100-year-old tree in the center of one of the most beautiful areas of Italy, not by chance declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

Pictured: the Checche Oak. Ph. Credit Walter Giannetti

Landscape protection, landmark ruling in Pienza: mayor and environment manager convicted for failure to care for a centuries-old oak tree

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