UN WORLD HABITAT DAY AND FAUNAL VALUES OPE 14, ONLINE MAGAZINE "RIVERS" - ISSUE NR6

Cities are responsible for 70 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, with transport, buildings, energy, and waste management accounting for the bulk of urban emissions. By 2050, two-thirds of our global population will live in urban areas. Nearly 90% of the growth in urban population will occur in Asia and Africa.

The United Nations designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of our habitats, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. The Day is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. In 1985 the United Nations designated the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day. The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

ISS RUTELLI UN WORLD HABITAT DAY - PLAN

The Plan was organised to involve the students in the analysis and cleaning activity of the gardens within the school space and in the urban area near the school. The analysis consists of the study and classification of the local flora, and this activity was carried on in collaboration with the University of Palermo - Department of Agriculture. The cleaning of the gardens was planned to remove the garbage existing in the gardens.

The area of activity identified by Google Map

Step nr.01 - Brainstorming activity among students and teachers

Step nr.02 - Cleaning activity of gardens and the area around the school

Step nr.03 - Analysis of the local flora and its classification

RESULTS - PLANTS

Pinus Pinea - It is an evergreen tree with a broad crown and straight cylindrical bole. It can reach 30 meters and it can be up 1 meter thick. The leaves consist of needles generally 10 to 12 cm long. The needles are green in colour and are rigid. It is sited within the Mediterranean area and its habitat is the seacoast.

Laurus Nobilis -The laurel is an evergreen shrub or small tree, variable in size and sometimes reaching 7–18 m (23–59 ft) tall. The genus Laurus includes four accepted species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap. The bay laurel is dioecious (unisexual), with male and female flowers on separate plants. Each flower is pale yellow-green, about 1 cm (3⁄8 in) in diameter and they are borne in pairs beside a leaf. The leaves are glabrous, 6–12 cm (2–5 in) long and 2–4 cm (3⁄4–1+5⁄8 in) broad, with an entire (untoothed) margin. On some leaves, the margin undulates. The fruit is a small, shiny black berry-like drupe about 1 cm (3⁄8 in) long[8] that contains one seed.

Pittosporum tobira - It is an evergreen shrub which can reach 10 m (33 ft) tall by 3 m (10 ft) broad, and can become treelike. It can also be trimmed into a hedge. The leaves are oval in shape with edges that curl under and measure up to 10 cm (4 in) in length. They are leathery, hairless, and darker and shinier on the upper surfaces. The inflorescence is a cluster of fragrant flowers occurring at the ends of branches. The flower has five white petals each about a centimetre long. The fruit is a hairy, woody capsule about 1 cm wide divided into three valves. Inside are black seeds in a bed of resinous pulp.

Olea europaea - The olive tree is an evergreen tree or shrub native to Mediterranean Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is short and squat and rarely exceeds 8–15 m (25–50 ft) in height. 'Pisciottana', a unique variety comprising 40,000 trees found only in the area around Pisciotta in the Campania region of southern Italy, often exceeds this, with correspondingly large trunk diameters. The silvery green leaves are oblong, measuring 4–10 cm (1+1⁄2–4 in) long and 1–3 cm (3⁄8–1+3⁄16 in) wide. The trunk is typically gnarled and twisted. The small, white, feathery flowers, with ten-cleft calyx and corolla, two stamens, and bifid stigma, are borne generally on the previous year's wood, in racemes springing from the axils of the leaves. The fruit is a small drupe 1–2.5 cm (3⁄8–1 in) long when ripe, thinner-fleshed and smaller in wild plants than in orchard cultivars.

Pinus sylvestris - It is an evergreen coniferous tree growing up to 35 metres (115 feet) in height and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in trunk diameter when mature, exceptionally over 45 m (148 ft) tall and 1.7 m (5+1⁄2 ft) in trunk diameter on very productive sites. The tallest on record is a tree over 210 years old tree growing in Estonia which stands at 46.6 m (153 ft). The lifespan is normally 150–300 years, with the oldest recorded specimens in Lapland, Northern Finland over 760 years. The bark is thick, flaky and orange-red when young to scaly and gray-brown in maturity, sometimes retaining the former on the upper portion. The habit of the mature tree is distinctive due to its long, bare and straight trunk topped by a rounded or flat-topped mass of foliage. The shoots are light brown, with a spirally arranged scale-like pattern. On mature trees the leaves ('needles') are a glaucous blue-green, often darker green to dark yellow-green in winter, 2.5–5 centimetres (1–2 inches) long and 1–2 millimetres (1⁄32–3⁄32 in) broad, produced in fascicles of two with a persistent gray 5–10 mm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) basal sheath.

FAUNAL VALUES RESULTS FOLLOWING THE MOBILITY IN CRETE

Rivers provide important benefits like drinking water, irrigation, and more. As homes for fish, plants, and wildlife, rivers are essential for the survival of many species—including our own. Roughly 3.5 million miles of rivers and tributaries in the United States connect us to the sea, even if we live far inland. Most Americans live within a mile of a river or a stream. Rivers provide our communities with economic, ecological, and cultural value.

River habitats vary from high, stony streams, to flowing channels for ships and boats, to shallow wetland deltas. Rivers have striking regional differences that create distinct habitats. Compare the rapid, rocky Colorado to South Carolina’s sleepy, green Santee, or the forested, winding Ohio. A river bed may be stony or soft, lush with underwater vegetation, murky or clear. Each type of river provides an ideal environment for different species and different life stages. Rivers have three distinct habitat areas: River beds, or the water channel itself. River banks are called the “riparian zone.” These include the land, trees, and water-loving animals and plants along the channel. Floodplains, or the low, flat land spreading out from the channel. This area periodically floods during heavy rains and snow melt. Sometimes floodplains stay soggy for a long time, creating rich wetland habitats.

The fauna of the Oreto River

Benefits of Rivers

Rivers provide important benefits—called ecosystem services—that impact our day-to-day lives. They provide drinking water, irrigation, transportation, and more. They also provide habitat for important fish species.

Community Benefits

Communities depends on rivers and streams for: Food—irrigating crops. Clean water—60 percent of our drinking water comes from American rivers. Electricity—generating hydro-electric power. Transportation—bringing grain, coal, ore, and imports to market. Recreation and tourism—providing a significant economic boost to waterfront areas. Flood protection—when waters rise, floodplains can absorb large amounts of water. This provides natural flood control for coastal communities, preventing billions of dollars in damages. Sustainable Fisheries Rivers are home to abundant fish and wildlife, including: Freshwater fish like bass, perch, bluegill, and catfish, Migratory fish such as alewife, salmon, trout, and striped bass Invertebrates that provide food for fish Protected, endangered, and threatened species.

Different areas of rivers provide habitat for different types of species. Trout thrive in highland streams, while catfish lurk near the bottom of slow-moving water. Migrating fish, like salmon, swim up to cooler, stony beds to reproduce. Floodplains provide calm shallow waters, allowing fish to grow larger before swimming out to sea. Even the smallest fish play an important role in the ecosystem. “Forage fish” like river herring swim upstream to multiply. They then head out to sea, providing food for important recreational and commercial species, such as cod, haddock, and striped bass.

Challenges for Rivers

People have harnessed the power of rivers throughout history. We’ve built dams for power and levees for shipping, dredged channels for navigation and canals for irrigation. We’ve built towns and cities along banks and washed their wastes downstream. These uses can all take a toll on a river’s health.

Appreciate