The protection of biodiversity

Once the installation phase of the pipeline is completed, the Company launches a series of operations aimed at restoring the pre-existing vegetable and morphological conditions, guaranteeing the stability and natural balance of the surrounding habitat and promoting the biological functionality of the area. This commitment is explained through the launch of a plan for at least fifteen years of reforestation, care and maintenance of plants and shrubs following by an environmental monitoring phase of the surrounding natural area, comparing the conditions after restoration with the original conditions.

Distance covered by pipelines in Natura 2000 networking sites (km)

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Environmental restoration and monitoring (network km)

	2017	2018	2019
* In 2019 the new reforestation area involved an area of around 157,500 m2 (410,500 m2 in 2018)
Restoration	203	227	63
New reforestation*	21	21	8
Plant care	59	74	73
Environmental monitoring	388	445	747

The Natura 2000 sites are the main instrument used by the European Union’s policy for preserving biodiversity. Established pursuant to the Habitat Directive 92/43/CEE for preserving the natural habitats in the EU, the Natura 2000 network is composed of Sites of Community Interest (SCI), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Areas (SPA). In 2019 the SCI IT 9350136 “Vallata dello Stilaro” in Calabria was affected by Snam’s activities, for a total distance of 3.7 km, following the construction of the “Sant’ Andrea Apostolo dello Ionio – Caulonia” pipeline and associated works.

Snam Plastic Less

As well as being a serious risk for the environment and animals, plastic is also a danger to human beings. Proof of this is the report published by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) which stresses the urgency of adopting precautionary principles to protect mankind from plastic pollution.

According to Assorimap, the national association for plastic recyclers and regenerators, in Italy one a quarter of the 2.1 million tonnes of plastic used is recycled. According to the report “The New Plastics Economy: Catalising Action” by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, only the 14% of plastic packaging used globally is collected and sent correctly to the recovery plants; all of the rest is incinerated, sent to landfill or dispersed into the atmosphere.

Snam wants to make its contribution to reducing the use of plastic and, for this reason, in 2019, it launched the “Snam Plastic Less” initiative aimed at reducing the use of plastic in industrial packaging by 100% by 2023 and eliminate single-use plastic in drinks vending machines at all its company premises by 2020. A plan aimed at interventions in the supply chain and communication to Company employees.

In addition, Snam plans adopt new supplier evaluation systems in future tenders capable of assessing the use of single-use plastic in packaging and promoting alternative packaging.

Snam also evaluates, in relation to the performance of the most important works (compression systems or large natural gas pipelines), the direct and indirect economic and social impact on the territory and on the local communities with “Social Impact Assessment” tools and methods. Specifically, in 2019, the collaboration project with the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Brescia, for the revision of the methodology used adopting a regionalised input-output model, was concluded. This model made it possible to evaluate the impact of a project, calculating the added value generated by the investment starting with the total value of production.

Hydraulic studies and mitigation measures, environmental restoration

Some of the most obvious consequences of climate change can be observed in the increase of acute weather conditions, such as flooding, landslides and droughts. Increasingly prolonged heavy rain seasons cause serious erosion of the banks of waterways, especially in valleys and overflow areas, with a consequent direct loss of habitats and biodiversity.

In order to mitigate and reduce the risk of potential erosion and guarantee high levels of protection and security for the pipes, Snam has produced detailed studies of hydraulic characterisation of the waterways affected by project works, in order to increase familiarity with the water environment affected by the works and to be able to plan the most appropriate hydraulic restoration works. In the design phase naturalistic engineering techniques are regularly employed involving the joint use of inert materials such as gravel, earth and timber, combined with plants and/or parts of plants (cuttings), which, thanks to the progressive development of radical equipment, are capable of exercising an important consolidation and stabilisation action on the soil, at the same time increasing the drainage capacity.

The bank and riverbed reconstruction technique is normally adopted for the consolidation of the banks and the riverbed. It is usually called “breakwaters” and “covering the riverbed with boulders”, using natural rocks that are available locally. Thanks to this technique it has been possible to establish actions to protect the banks, prevent the risks of soil consumption and loss through erosion, conserve the environmental balance and guarantee excellent harmony and aesthetic-landscape integration in the natural environment in which the work is carried out. The combined use of cuttings and the planting of native plants and shrubs helps establish the naturalisation process and the preservation of the biodiversity of the areas.

A recent morphological and hydraulic restoration through naturalistic engineering works was carried out in Sicily, in the province of Enna in the municipality of Piazza Armerina on the pipeline “Upgrading imports from Algeria to Italy – DN 1200 (48”)”, which runs through the Schiavo stream, affecting a stretch of the valley floor about 1,500 m long.

The bank reconstruction work with a covering of boulders fits perfectly in an environmental setting featuring undulating morphology with areas of grassland, meadows, arable land, hygrophilous vegetation and some sections of eucalyptus forests.

This work constitutes an important action for safeguarding the area from extreme meteorological events such as those that took place between 2016 and 2018 during which there was very serious bank erosion.