The Arno River flows 200 kilometres through the heart of Tuscany, in Northern Italy. For thousands of years it has been the lifeblood of the province.

The river helped build the region's wealth - but at a cost. Like so many of Europe's waterways, Italy's Arno River has been badly damaged by a century of industrial development. In the last 100 years, the effects of dam building, industrial development and the pressures of a modern tourist invasion have taken the sheen off the silver river.

But since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, European Union environmental legislation has become increasingly tough and, as a result, Europe's rivers have begun to show a gradual improvement. This week's Earth Report takes a journey down the Arno to meet some of the people who are working to bring the river back to its full health, showing that pollution does not have to be the inevitable price of prosperity.
 

Going Green

The Arno rises from Mount Falterona, in the heart of the Casentino Forest. Half a century ago intensive logging left these slopes bare. Today it is a National Park and strictly protected. The fir, beech, and maple trees have recovered, and even wolves are making a comeback.

Miriam Pantiferi was raised in Florence, but her parents come from the Casentino Forest area. She has decided to move back to this remote corner together with them. With a background in agriculture and environmental sciences, and inspired by the Rio Earth Summit and ideas of respect for the environment, she's developing an organic farm within the National Park. The family  grow their produce according to old methods, without any chemicals or synthetic additives. Their land goes up to the Arno, and in the summer Miriam waters the flock of sheep at the river.

Miriam's lifestyle may seem idyllic, but sustainable farming in such a remote spot is not without difficulties. The regulations of the National Park place certain restrictions on her activities: It's forbidden to run an electricity supply through the forest. Without refrigeration it is difficult to store certain types of cheese, and without an incubator eggs cannot be produced. The answer might lie with a wind-power generator, so that Miriam and her parents can generate their own electricity. Miriam is also looking into the possibility of developing eco-tourism on her farm.

Tuscany has become Europe's leading region for small scale sustainable farming. Together with the regeneration of the forests in the National Park, this means less soil and agricultural chemicals are washed into the river.
 

Flooding Florence

Racing downstream, the Arno flows past ancient towers and castles. At Val d'Arno, the river first encounters industrial development along its banks. By the time it reaches the historical city of Florence, signs of pollution from homes and factories begin to show. But pollution is not the only problem. When it rains heavily, an ancient fear comes back. In 1333 a huge flood destroyed the Ponte Vecchio, Florence's most famous and beautiful bridge. More recently, in 1966 the waters of the Arno rose six metres above normal, taking 35 lives, injuring hundreds and damaging much of the city's rich cultural heritage.

Climate change and less predictable weather patterns increase the possibility of another flood. So engineers at the River Basin Authority aren't taking any chances. All along the river, they are building expansion chambers to prevent overflowing from affecting houses, factories, schools, and roads.
 

Reviving the River

Engineers are also busy constructing Florence's first ever sewage treatment plant. The plant will have a capacity to treat the waste from 600,000 people, and it will be ready in a couple of years. Currently waste from 400,000 permanent residents and seven million annual tourists goes straight into the Arno, directly contravening EU directives on water quality.

Lastra a Signa, a town just outside Florence, is the site for the sewage plant development. The Mayor, Giuseppe Moscardini, somewhat surprisingly welcomes this development in his backyard. But the plant is key to Mayor Moscardini's dream of reviving local people's relationship with the river. In the past people would use the riverbanks for relaxation, and they would wash clothes and even swim in the river. In exchange for providing the land for the sewage plant, Lastra a Signa gets a riverside park which aims to bring the river back to the community. Mayor Moscadini also has plans to revive boat traffic on the Arno - a boat service for tourists or commuters could provide an alternative means of transport to nearby Florence.
 

A Check on Pollution

Twenty kilometres downriver from Florence is the highly industrialised city of Prato, a major European centre for textile production. Here, measures to deal with the city's industrial and domestic waste have greatly improved the quality of the water that goes back into the Ombrone, a tributary of the Arno. Technicians from Tuscany's Regional Agency for Environmental Protection monitor pollution levels every three months to make sure standards are maintained.

The river flows on through Italy's industrial heartland. By the time it reaches Pisa it has been polluted by waste from paper mills, intensive farming, leather industries - as well as two million people. The water table below the floodplains is heavily tapped. Over-extraction has led to subsidence effecting land and buildings, including the famous leaning tower of Pisa.

By the time the Arno reaches its estuary in the San Rossore Regional Park, its colour has changed. The park's pine forests have suffered severly from the pollution carried by the river. The main polluting agents affecting the pine trees are surfectants, or detergents. The wind and the tide blow these substances on the tree trunks, killing off the branches and leaving only skeletal trunks.
 

Good Enough?

In the ten years since the Rio Earth Summit, European Union environmental law has become increasingly stringent. Now that the Tuscan authorities are implementing those standards, the Arno is beginning to enjoy a new lease on life. But it will be at least another ten years before the river meets official standards.

The process of cleaning up Europe's waterways is slow, and the question remains whether the world's wealthiest nations could be doing more to restore the environment?