New Life for Salento’s Devastated Olive Groves
A non-profit organization located in Salento, the region making up Italy’s “heel” in the country’s southernmost tip, is on a mission to regenerate its devastated olive groves. OlivaMi has launched an ambitious campaign to plant new olive trees to replace the millions decimated by a deadly bacterium that first struck the region in 2013.
A devastated landscape
Olive groves, old and new
Salento’s once bucolic landscape of centuries-old olive trees with their characteristically curved and intertwined trunks has been completely transformed in the past decade. Scarred by disease, the postcard-perfect landscapes of huge expanses of olive trees, so typical to this region, were turned into scenes of desolation as trees age-old were uprooted. Over the past ten years, over 21 million olive trees were infected with the Xylella fastidiosa virus which is spread by an insect and causes trees to dry up and ultimately die.
Chiara Nocco
“We Salentinians, who were accustomed to being surrounded by vast expanses of greenery that provided us with oxygen, shade, coolness, and a beautiful panorama, have been left with skeletons of dry and dead olive trees,” says Chiara Nocco of the OlivaMi Association. “Over 5,000 olive farmers have lost everything: their fields, their work, and their traditions. It has had a psychologically devastating impact, especially on those families whose only means of livelihood was their olive fields.”
This natural disaster represents a loss of 20 billion euros for what is Italy’s leading olive oil producing region. Production has been estimated to have fallen by at least 80%; a 50% decline on the national level. Along with the economic and social impacts on the region, environmental pollution has increased by 8% due to the loss of carbon-absorbing tree cover.
New life for age-old groves
OlivaMi team
OlivaMi was set in motion by young men and women living in Salento who wanted to give a breath of new life to their beloved olive groves. “We started simply by talking to people,” shares Nocco. “More and more tourists and Salentinians, speaking with farmers, asked how they could help Salento recover. They didn’t have a way to support agriculture and the farmers who wanted to restore the olive groves.”
Planting day
OlivaMi’s mission aims to reforest the decimated groves and restore Salento’s landscape by planting new olive trees and giving local olive farmers the chance to see their groves and businesses flourish once again.
At the same time, more tree cover will provide an ecological boon. They estimate that a hectare (2.5 acres) of olive trees absorbs 9.5 metric tons (21,000 pounds) of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere on a yearly basis. This amounts to approximately 730 kg (1600 pounds) of CO2 per olive tree.
Adopt a tree and save Salento
OlivaMi has launched a campaign that offers the opportunity to olive and nature lovers around the world to contribute to the reforestation and regeneration of Salento. Through this “new form of sustainable and participatory olive growing”, the initiative aims to attract donors who would like to adopt a new olive tree which will be planted in the affected groves.
Subscription details
Via the adoption page on the OlivaMi website, individuals as well as companies can adopt one or several olive trees, with the option to also gift a tree. These are then planted in groves tended by the olive farmers associated with OlivaMi in the municipalities of Carpignano Salentino, Serrano, Martano, Melissano, and Lizzanello. With a view to sustainability, only zero impact production techniques and technologies are used, while fig and oak trees, and blackberry shrubs are planted alongside the groves to promote biodiversity.
Donors receive a certificate of adoption with a QR code that reveals the exact location of the grove where their tree stands. Each adopted tree will also sport a small wooden sign revealing the name of the donor and order code. Donors are welcome to visit the groves and see their adopted trees, and even take part in the olive harvest.
Adoption fees are paid on an annual basis with the option to renew. As a sign of gratitude, donors can receive bottles of locally produced and certified organic extra virgin olive oil with worldwide shipping as an extra charge.
37,000 olive trees adopted so far
Hand harvesting olives
So far, over 37,000 adopted olive trees have been planted, contributing to the regeneration of over 150 hectares of Salento’s groves which are cultivated by 230 farmers. Of these, 32,000 were donated to small farmers who lost their trees to Xylella fastidiosa.
The predominant olive cultivars replacing the diseased trees include leccino and favolosa, varieties known to be resistant to the bacterium. These have taken the place of the native cultivars of ogliarola, cellina di nardò, and frantoio. Since May 2024, two additional varieties have been added: lecciana and leccio del corno which are also immune to the bacterial virus.
Oliveto verde Favolosa
Thanks to this initiative, Salento’s natural landscape is being revived with thousands of new trees which preserve the region’s long tradition of olive oil production. The young people whose love for their region sparked the idea for OlivaMi are looking towards a brighter and greener future. “Our mission is to give a future back to our farmers, restore greenery, and leave to our children the evergreen land,” says Nocco of their vision.