There are 60.065 tree species in the world, and a third are at risk.

From birches to tropical essences, from pines to beeches, to abeti: tree species are spread everywhere, and resist despite the devastation caused by competition from other crops, by the increasingly widespread traffic in precious woods and in general by various forms of plundering of the forestsThe 60.065 tree species are concentrated first in Brazil (8.715), then in Colombia (5.776) and Indonesia (5.142). It is no coincidence that it is a tree, the Pao brazil, that gave its name to the South American country.

And Italy? In this ranking Italy appears only in position number 125, with 130 species recorded, some of which have become highly endangered and are therefore particularly protected. For example, theSicilian silver fir and Bosnian pine of the Calabrian-Lucanian ApenninesIn any case, we shouldn't consider position 125 to be too disadvantageous for Italy: in our country, in fact, approximately 30 percent of the territory is covered by forests. And this is already a miracle considering the perverse use that has been made, for many decades, of the Italian territory and its natural beauties, such as its forests and trees.

According to the most recent assessments coordinated by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) together with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), approximately 30% of the world's tree species are at risk of extinction, while it is estimated that around 15 billion trees are cut down every year.

The areas with the highest number of threatened species are:

• Tropical forests (South America, Central Africa, Southeast Asia)
• Islands with high biodiversity (e.g. Madagascar)

And the causes of more serious dangers are: 

• Deforestation for agriculture
• Timber cutting
• Fires
• Climate change
• Invasive species.

Read also:

• Benefits of trees in the city
• The 10 most beautiful monumental trees in Italy
• The best associations for planting trees in the city