The trees of the Gardens of the Righteous are monumental trees. This is stated in the Resolution no. 23 of the Ministry of the Environment and the protection of the territory and the sea's Committee for the development of public green, undersigned by its President, Councilor Massimiliano Atelli, on 6 March 2018. A date, which was certainly not coincidence, as it was the first Day of the Righteous of the Humanity celebrated as a civil feast in Italy.
The law of December 2017, which establishes the Day, states that administrations and public entities “can promote open initiatives at the Gardens of the Righteous, where already existing, or their creation, as well as in places that are symbolic for the community because of their historic, architectural, environmental or landscape character, open for public use. Such spaces can be identified also in already existing parks and gardens and already planted trees, through official denomination and public dedication.”
“These trees, too – the Resolution of the Ministry of the Environment reads out – are, so to say, “political trees”, as each of them takes up a political meaning. A powerful meeting, indeed, we need to add. This is a point that this Committee has touched upon also in its 2017 Annual Report to the Parliament, noticing on this respect that the tree is in fact also a political symbol, with a strong evocative and suggestive power. A symbol to remember, to stimulate, to denounce. In one word, a symbol that may be articulated in many different ways.”
In the Gardens of the Righteous in Italy and all over the world, over the years many trees have been planted, dedicated to those who have defended and still nowadays defend human dignity. “These trees – the Resolution goes forth – are growing in number, but they will never be enough. Especially in a country such as ours, which has long ceased filling the squares (in a a void of values that is still strikingly haunting our present) with the monuments meant the traditional way, almost as if there were no heroes of our time to bring about as examples, through a steady presence of a representative element, mainly targeted at the younger generations. These heroes instead do indeed exist, and at least a tree has to be planted to honor their memory”.
After the establishment of the Day in memory of the Righteous of the Humanity and the attribution of a particular legal status, by law, to the Gardens of the Righteous, the Committee for the development of Public Green assigns a special value also to the Gardens’ trees, which “are to be added in full right to the list of Italy’s monumental trees.”
The full text of the Resolution is available on the Website of the Ministry of the Environment.