Lost Roots: the Olive Tree Apocalypse in Italy

The Salento region, located in the heel of  Italy's boot, is widely known for its olive oil. But since 2013, a plant bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, has been responsible for a disease that is killing millions of olive trees in what is considered the world's worst phytosanitary emergency. This epidemic, for which there is still no remedy, has devastated the landscape and caused massive economic and environmental damage: many people have lost their livelihoods and a huge green lung has been wiped out along with its carbon-fixing capacity. But another, more intimate loss affects the lives of local people: the loss of their own identity. Some 60 million olive trees in the region, many of them centuries old, are deeply rooted in local culture, as symbols of ancient traditions and legacies of past generations. With the spread of this plague, people have lost not only the roots of their trees but also the roots that emotionally connect them to their past.