torsanlorenzo

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On the basis of the experience acquired through the bird-garden project, in addition to the garden’s historical
and aesthetic heritage he introduced a third element, “the natural garden”, promoting the natural reintroduction
of new ornithological and entomological species by means of specifically conceived stratagems. He is especially
committed to the study of the compatibility between historic monument and garden heritage, the results
of which have been absorbed and used in similar cases by the University of Rome La Sapienza, faculty of architecture
and restoration, and by other institutions.
In 1999 on behalf of the Caetani Foundation he supervised the monumental and botanic restoration of the Ninfa
Renaissance Garden, next to the one in the romantic style, abandoned for centuries and created in 1621 by Duke
Francesco Caetani. Now it is open to the public.
He is in contact with British, American and French botanical institutes and has frequently been a judge in various
international gardening events: at Courson, Cologne and, in Italy, Masino (Piedmont), Colorno (Emilia), Le Corti
(Florence), Salsomaggiore, La Landriana (Rome).
For years he was a judge at the International Rose Prize held in the Aventino rose garden by the Cioty of Rome.
He has held conferences on gardens in Paris, Cologne, the University of Florence, Turin, Genoa, Naples, the British
Institute in Rome, the Abruzzo National Park, the Circeo National Park, the American Academy and the Botanical
Gardens in Rome for the faculty of Botany, especially on the subject of the romantic garden.
Invited by the Dean, for the last eight years he has been working with the faculty of architecture and the environment
of Aachen, where he has also held lessons on the conservation of protected areas. He has promoted postgraduate
courses at the Castle of Sermoneta organised by the German university.
He is often invited to speak about environmental issues at training courses organised by the regional authorities
and to address students of various schools with regard to the conservation of the natural heritage.
In the context of the management of protected areas, his specialisation is the best way to combine public fruition
and protection of the natural heritage and the environment through methodologies adopted for the first time
in Italy (1966) and later followed by the principal national parks and gardens.
From 1991 to 1996 he personally supervised the restoration of the medieval village of Torrecchia vecchia, between
Cisterna and Cori, and has helped to create a garden in the romantic style within the village, introducing 12,000
plants on behalf of Torrecchia s.r.l.
From 1991 to 1993 he was director of the gardens of the American Academy in Rome. D
He is a voluntary advisor for various new parks and botanical gardens. He supervised the restoration of the coastal
gardens of Messina for the WWF.
He has collaborated with the Abruzzo National Park on various conservation and promotional initiatives, including
the “Il parco in fiore” event.
He has collaborated with RAITV for several programmes on the protection of the environment: Geo and Geo, Made
in Italy, Sereno variabile, Uno Mattina etc.
He has written many articles on the subject of nature conservation and promotion for newspapers and specialised
reviews.
He is the author of a book published in New York by Vendome Press titled “Ninfa, a Roman enchantment” and of
introductions for catalogues of exhibitions on environmental and literary subjects.
He has participated in the compilation and research of Italy’s monumental trees registered in the Official Italian
Botanical List drawn up by the Ministry of the Environment.
A member of the WWF since it was founded in 1967, he continues to be active at a local, regional and national
level. He is a member of Italia Nostra and FAI (Italian Environmental Foundation).
In 1998 he received the honorary title of Cavaliere from the Italian President for his work in favour of the environment.
For the last eighteen years he has made regular trips to Africa, where he is helping to draw up an ornithological
and endemic plant check-list of the biggest African park, the Selous Game Reserve (50,000 km2) near Dar Es
Saalam in Tanzania. His great wish is to take part in the foundation of the Lepini Mountains Regional Park, to bridge
the area between the Abruzzo parks and the Circeo and Pontine Islands National Park
From “Giardini Italiani” by Marella Agnelli:
“……and the Garden of Ninfa completely expresses the balance between history and nature, medieval architecture
and marvellous vegetation – a perfect union. A multitude of old roses, irises and magnolias was planted
amongst the ruins, around the towers and along the embattled walls, a choice marked by the same poetic intuition
we find in the romantic tales by twentieth-century authors who came to Ninfa in search of inspiration. Ninfa
is protected by the Lepini mountains and the pure, clear waters of the stream that run through it ensure maximum
fertility: the trees, cypresses, oaks and maples above all, are young but seem centuries old, while the roses
cover the ruins like garments, their flowering boughs falling to the transparent waters of the stream, banksiae
roses cover the ruins of the great churches, others envelop the cypresses in an embrace and flower among the
branches, colourful patches of aquilegias and peonies create an impressionistic background for the ancient
towers covered in moss and clematis.
From the evocative past to the enchanted present. At Ninfa it is not a question of restoring what time has
destroyed, but of preserving what it has left. The ruins are often unrecognisable, hardly historic remains anymore,
but signs and indications of time that gardening, discovering a new vocation, protects and defends, transforming
the desolate silence of ruins into the golden calm of a magic garden that brings us without hesitation
back to Eden”.
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