Cristina, the friend of the woods who listens to the trees and collects their tears

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• The article is taken from the fortnightly issue of L'Altopiano of Saturday, April 6, 2019, which can be purchased in all the newsstands of the Plateau.
   
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It is a volcano of ideas.
"Confusing," she says, a non-negative characteristic, I would say, and common to all creative people. At the base of its doing, organizing,
conceiving, creating there is always the usual common thread:
a deep feeling of love for the nature of the Plateau, its land.

Cristina Panozzo, 37, works on the family farm and, with the help of her father, has also created the educational farm "Il Cason delle meraviglie", a natural oasis of property, on the edge of the woods; a small wonderful corner of the plateau, in Treschè Conca, where it offers various recreational-educational activities in order to bring children closer to nature, transmitting them a lot of knowledge that then translates into love and respect for the environment that surrounds us. "I teach everything that has been taught to me," he points out.

After the Vaia storm, we heard a lot about her for being the creator of the "#Adotta a tree" campaign that the Coldretti association wanted to make its own by launching it then at the provincial level. An initiative that has been very successful and that has lived some moments even beyond the provincial borders and
regional, finding echo even in Palermo.

"The initiative #Adotta a tree started almost by chance – says Cristina – the disaster that happened on October 29 really upset me. The first thought I made concerns the fact that my daughter Emy who is now two years old will not be able to see the same landscape that I have always known and so I immediately thought of doing something to raise public awareness and to raise funds for environmental restoration. Driven by so many emotions, I began to make saplings by working on the trunk pieces of the trees cut down with the chainsaw. I took them to Vicenza at a press conference in which I participated as a representative of Donne impresa and the idea found appreciation and sharing".

"I want to underline the particular sensitivity and attention that the president of Coldiretti Martino Cerantola and the director Roberto Palù have always shown, and at this juncture even more, for our territory"
From there, the saplings (made by Cristina with the help of other people, her partner above all, Damiano Panozzo, who also worked at night, but also a volunteer from Noventa Vicentina, Luigi Buratti, and then the lumberjacks of Enego) were over 300 and were snapped up. Not just trees, though. Putting in
Moving her imagination, Cristina has also collected and enclosed in jars the "tears of the trees" or the drops of resin, good for perfuming the environments.
This is how the fundraising began, essential for the purchase of the plants necessary for reforestation and for which a special bank account is always active.

Tears is also the title of the film made to promote the initiative especially in schools where Cristina talks about the pain of trees and invites, together with President Martino Cerantola, to participate in the campaign #Adotta a tree.
"To understand how important it is for us to adopt a tree - says Cristina in the video - just enter the woods to listen, because the forest speaks to us".

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

The participation of the people was great right from the start. "At the Coldiretti markets - cristina underlines - I was moved to see the involvement of the people and to see how much the plateau is loved by all those who for various reasons frequent it. We are the guardians of a territory that is felt as the heritage of all. Many have told me that they have not yet had the courage to come and see with their own eyes what has happened. Numerous donations have been received so far, of various entities: from the Paduan notary who gave us 20 thousand euros to the people who gave us 50 euros ".

With the many harvesting initiatives, also launched by Donna impresa di Coldiretti, we will therefore plant new plants, to which those who contribute can give their name.
"The project is to create an educational forest. – says Cristina – A first path of knowledge of the territory, to which the promotion of local productions can also be linked"
"Planting trees is a beautiful symbol linked to the blossoming life. Here there is a tradition of planting a seedling when someone is born. My grandfather did it when my father and uncle were born, they are the beautiful cherry trees at the Cason delle meraviglie; my father did it when I was born and I did it too:
when my daughter came into the world I planted a plum. With adopt a tree you give everyone the opportunity to contribute to the rebirth of the Plateau".

Cristina really has a particular sensitivity and the love for nature that shines through her eyes and her words has always had it inside.
"Of nature I especially love the little things that I find of an immense magnitude: an ant that carries its food, an earthworm that moves in the water ... I owe this deep bond with the land, the forest and nature to Grandmother Lella. She was from Padua, but she was in love with the Plateau and always took me to the woods. The place where the Cason delle meraviglie was born was the magical place where I always took refuge when I needed to feel good. Having realized the educational farm there is a dream that I had for a long time and that today I am living".
The passion for nature seems to be innate even in little Emy, his daughter. "She - he tells us - is like me: she loves being outdoors".

Talking to Cristina is an effective way to rediscover the love for nature: with her eyes in love you can see many things that generally escape most people; his enthusiasm and the poetry with which he describes the wonders of nature are engaging. Now, especially in front of the trees, we will be careful and
in silence to listen to what, in their infinite wisdom, they have to tell us.

Stefania Longhini

Photos from the newspaper l'Altopiano

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