Italy's parks and seas are in excellent shape but refuse, smog and rising temperatures are damaging the country's environmental health, a report published on Thursday said.
The fifth edition of the annual study by the Environmental Protection Agency (APAT), based on statistics collected throughout the year, praised Italy for tight regulations governing its protected areas.
It noted that nearly 10% of Italian land and 30% of its seas are designated protected areas, ensuring there are strict limits on activities and a close watch kept on pollution levels.
However, the positive state of Italy's mountains, woods and seas is in sharp contrast to deteriorating conditions in its cities and urban areas.
Waste levels continued to rise last year, said the report, up a worrying 3.7% on 2003 to 31 million tons. The increase in central Italy was particularly sharp, at 5.4%.
The country's other biggest problem, according to the study, is smog. Ozone, fine dust particles and nitrogen dioxide are all contributing to the situation.
The study particularly highlighted the dangers of PM10, which is thought to cause over 8,000 deaths in Italy annually. This refers to dust particles that are smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter and therefore able to enter human lungs through the nose and mouth.
Over half of Italy's PM10 monitoring stations reported that daily levels had surpassed safe limits, while 40% of ozone and nitrogen dioxide stations said acceptable limits were being breached.
The report also sounded the alarm over climate change, noting Italy's average temperatures had risen by 1.58 degrees between 1981 and 2004.
There has been a boom in renewable energy production in recent years, which is up 71.2% on 1991, it said. But renewable sources are still under-utilized and lack sufficient support, comprising just 8.4% of Italy's overall usage.
Although it praised Italy's attention to marine protection, the report was more ambivalent about the country's water quality overall.
Sixty percent of seawater was classified as high quality, 30% as good and the remaining 10% as mediocre and poor.
In terms of inland water, 79% received a high ranking but the remaining 21% of rivers and lakes were far below target, said the report.
Finally, the report expressed concerns over the country's biodiversity, warning that an "emergency" was developing. Over 45% of Italy's vertebrates are threatened, 40% of its plants and 30% of its natural environments.
Human activity is the biggest threat to Italy's wildlife, it said, particularly highlighting the spread of hunting and overfishing.
