We spent last Saturday afternoon in the company of Marco Pardini, one of the most eminent ethnobotanists in our part of the world. A regular presenter of his subject on NOI TV, the local television channel serving Tuscany and the Lucchesia, Marco escorted us through the magical flora of Barga’s Parco Bruno Buozzi which can be sighted below one of the bridges connecting the city’s historic old town to its newer development of villas.

(Marco telling us about Saint John’s Wort)

But who is an ethnobotanist?  He/she is someone who studies how people make use of native plants and what significance they have in their own culture. Plants principally provide food but they also can serve as medicines, dyes, fibres, oils, resins, gums, soaps, waxes, latex and tannins. Their substance can be used for anything from making clothes to building houses and without their presence we would be unable to breathe.

Marco is a long-serving practitioner of this valuable field of study and has a therapy centre treating patients with remedies derived from plants. A brilliant teacher of his subject and with his base at Viareggio Marco has recently opened a branch near us at Pian della Rocca. He is also an author on ethnobotany and we have greatly enjoyed reading his latest book called “Erbario Poetico” which sums up the difficult predicament in which our age finds itself.

Marco asks what still has to happen to humanity for it to finally realize and make amends for the rapidly deteriorating condition our planet finds itself in, particularly with regard to climate change.

For if we continue to cut down forests to make way for cultivation, expand cities into megalopolises, erode the soil, desertify and so, unguardedly alter nature’s delicate balance, there will be unimaginable consequences. Global warming is already generating a climatic instability now experienced by all of us. Italy, for example, is currently suffering from the worst of arid conditions it has known and thousands of acres of crops including maize and rice have already been lost through lack of water. The river Po has even turned from fresh to salt water for part of its length. Tropical storms arise in areas that were once temperate. An increased number of tsunamis and ever-more disastrous flooding (CF today in Assam) are affecting us.

Moreover, humans increasingly are coming into contact with wild animals able to transmit frightening epidemics through “species-leap”. (There’s no need to specify which epidemics we are referring to!) In short, the Earth is like our mother and must be treated with equal love and respect.  We must urgently change attitudes and adopt the concern and awareness that has been forgotten for so long before it is sadly and irreversibly too late.

The Parco Buozzi encloses a fascinating array of plants and some fine trees including Douglas Pine, Ash, Beech, and Tree of Heaven. Many of the flora have one main feature: they are largely non-native to the area. I would have liked to know more about why this is so. Perhaps, returning emigrants (and Barga has had a considerably high rate of emigration, largely to Scotland and Canada) might have brought these species to their place of birth for ornamental or agricultural purposes.

Furthermore, the park seems somewhat neglected with many areas overgrown) and decaying paths although, clearly, rewilding is to be encouraged.Marco is in discussions with Barga City council regarding improvements to this otherwise magical area of Barga. For example, his plan is to provide a proper signage for the trees and plants in the park. The amphitheatre is to be regenerated into an events area where talks can be given, films shown and concerts held. It all sounds very promising.

We wish Marco every success for he is a person with genuine natural energy and a truly captivating presenter of the fascinating subject of ethnobotany weaving together the most amazing correlations between nomenclature, ancient myths, folk traditions and modern scientific discoveries relating to the planet’s flora.

Find out more about Marco Pardini on his web site at https://marcopardini.com/