To Governor Luca Zaia, Veneto Region (Italy). Forest biodiversity, soil functions and human behavior - A case study: the October 29 2018 catastrophe in North-East Italian Alps

A strong wind severely damaged the forests of 473 Italian Alpine municipalities at the end of October 2018. The affected forest area covers 42,500 ha. The president of one of the damaged regions asked for help from the TESAF department of the University of Padua. 27 international scientists (listed: 24; anonymous: 3) responded to the appeal and collectively wrote this article. At first, we discussed the value of ramial chipped wood; then of leaving or not the forest to its natural evolution; there was no lack of bark beetles; we estimated the biodegradation times of fallen trees according to the on-site humus systems and forms and also ended in political and social considerations. After eight months of discussion, with various reworkings and cuts, a controversial text was born, complete, and practical at the same time. There are several ways to read an article that seems too long: a) Focus on Conclusions. In this report, there are two means to look at them: 1) Chapter 4. Conclusions: Response to Governor Luca Zaia, with concise considerations; 2) Chapter 3. Actions, in subchapter 3.3.1. Silviculture on 75% of the damaged area - Synthetic plan, with the practical items to do in the field; crucial pieces: Tab. 1 and figure 7; b) Having some time left: pass through the answers reported in Chapter 2: Why not let Nature curing its wounds by herself? (for the complete authors' answers, refer to https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02342793, a CNRS site, France. Article code: hal-02342793); c) Some idea of effective investigations in the chapter 3.3.2. Research on 25% of the damaged area; d) while discussing, both traders and artists did not stop working. Just look at figures 8 and 9 or listen to Vaia's scream. The article displays an unusual Premise entitled "Should we doing science or politics?", and proposes a "Final suggestion" for rescuing the forests....of the whole planet!