Arbouring offenders: Italian town’s tree-climbing ban prompts outcry

An Italian council has come under fire for banning people from climbing trees.

Anyone caught climbing a tree in public spaces in the centre of Oderzo, a town in the northern province of Treviso, risks fines of between €25 (£21) and €500 (£428).

The measure reportedly had been part of urban regulations for some time but returned to the spotlight when councillors were asked to approve the fines as part of a package of rules that also includes a ban on lying down on benches.

Maria Scardellato, the rightwing mayor of Oderzo, said the tree-climbing rule was intended to keep people safe and to protect the trees.

But Giulia Princivalli, a centre-left councillor, said it was absurd. “It’s paradoxical to ban children from climbing trees when we complain about them always being in front of a mobile phone,” she told Corriere del Veneto. “It would be enough to put signs up warning parents that the council is not liable [in the event of an accident].”

Related: Heaven up here: the joy of urban tree climbing

Mirco Casteller, a psychologist, is also against the measure, telling the local press that “playful activity, even if risky, is important for the human mind”. He added: “The experience of climbing trees allows children to know their limits.”

Scardellato said she had been hit with a deluge of calls from people asking for her to explain the rule. “Obviously it does not apply to trees in the countryside or in private gardens but to those in the town centre or public areas … I have never seen a city [centre] where people climb trees,” she wrote on Facebook. “There is absolutely no wish to limit children’s play.”