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STORY: FAO / INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FORESTS 2025
TRT: 2:24
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH, ITALIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 21 MARCH 2025, ROME, ITALY / RECENT
21 MARCH 2025, VILLA DORIA PAMPHILJ, ROME, ITALY
1. Wide shot, Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphilj
2. Wide shot, authorities and children attending the high-level ceremony of International Day of Forests 2025 at Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphilj
3. Various shots, forests fruits displayed during the event
4. Wide shot, FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and Italian authorities attending the ceremony
5. SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General: “We should appreciate, appreciate the nature, culture and food culture. Without the culture, food culture, and history, we lost our way to go forward.”
6. Wide shot, authorities attending the high-level ceremony of International Day of Forests 2025 at Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphilj
7. SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General: “We should respect, protect and conserve our forest first, because it's our last paradise to protect the biodiversity.”
8. Wide shot, authorities attending the high-level ceremony of International Day of Forests 2025 at Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphilj
9. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Sabrina Alfonsi, Councillor for Agriculture, Environment, and Waste Cycle, Roma Capitale: ““As the [FAO Director-General] DG has just said, we’re immersed in the nature, we’re part of it, and we have to close the cycle, be part of it [the nature], and do not feel and act as the owners of it. This has caused too many unbalances in our planet.”
10. Wide shot, Chef and World Gelato Champion Eugenio Morrone handles an ice-cream to FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu
11. Wide shots, World Gelato Champion Eugenio Morrone prepares and serves ice-cream.
12. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Eugenio Morrone, Chef and World Gelato Champion: “It is very important to have access to the forests’ products, because they’re simple things but good. When the raw material is good, you just need it to make a great product. Think about pistachio, that allows you to make a great pistachio ice-cream; cacao, that allows you to make a wonderful chocolate ice-cream; natural fruits, like raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry, and all the other products that the forests provide us.”
13. Wide shot, Morrone and Alfonsi shake hands after the meeting.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Municipality of Rome, kicked off celebrations for the International Day of Forests (IDF) 2025 by engaging young students in exploring the connection between forests and food security at the Global Library of Trees and Flowers - FAO Park in Villa Doria Pamphilj today (21 Mar).
Opening the event under the theme of “Forests and Foods,” FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, highlighted the importance of nature and forests for food production.
SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General:
“We should appreciate, appreciate the nature, culture and food culture. Without the culture, food culture, and history, we lost our way to go forward.”
The Director-General was joined for the event by Sabrina Alfonsi, Councillor for Agriculture, Environment, and Waste Cycle, Roma Capitale, and Stefania Costanza, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Italy to the United Nations Agencies in Rome.
The celebration brought together approximately 250 school children from national and international schools to participate in an educational and interactive initiative at the FAO Park. Launched under the Green Cities Initiative, the FAO Park spans 2.5 hectares and serves as an urban oasis with over 120 trees and plants representing diverse regions of the world.
Addressing the children, FAO Director-General encouraged children to “respect, protect and conserve” forests in order to safeguard biodiversity.
SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General:
“We should respect, protect and conserve our forest first, because it's our last paradise to protect the biodiversity.”
Sabrina Alfonsi thanked FAO for the Global Library of Trees and Flowers - FAO Park. She called to respect and protect nature, instead of acting “as the owners of it.”
SOUNDBITE (Italian) Sabrina Alfonsi, Councillor for Agriculture, Environment, and Waste Cycle, Roma Capitale:
“As the [FAO Director-General] DG has just said, we’re immersed in the nature, we’re part of it, and we have to close the cycle, be part of it [the nature], and do not feel and act as the owners of it. This has caused too many unbalances in our planet.”
During the ceremony, chef and World Gelato Champion Eugenio Morrone shared with participants pistachio ice-cream he made. He recalled the importance of forests for providing material for food production.
SOUNDBITE (Italian) Eugenio Morrone, Chef and World Gelato Champion:
“It is very important to have access to the forests’ products, because they’re simple things but good. When the raw material is good, you just need it to make a great product. Think about pistachio, that allows you to make a great pistachio ice-cream; cacao, that allows you to make a wonderful chocolate ice-cream; natural fruits, like raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry, and all the other products that the forests provide us.”
Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012, the International Day of Forests celebrates and emphasizes the vital role of forests globally.
Forests and trees play a crucial part in global food security, nutrition and livelihoods, yet their importance is often overlooked. In addition to providing food, fuel, income and employment, forests support soil fertility, protect water resources, and offer habitats for biodiversity, including vital pollinators, which contribute to healthy agrifood systems.
Forests provide essential nutrients and income for many rural communities, particularly Indigenous Peoples, and contribute to climate-change mitigation by storing carbon.
Challenges such as deforestation, climate change, wildfires, pests and unsustainable use of forest resources however hinder the potential of forests for food security.
