Osservatorio La Goccia is a research laboratory on the spontaneous ecosystem of La Goccia. An interdisciplinary project initiated by Terrapreta together with the Municipality of Milan, Milan Museum of Natural History, CNR-Iret, CFU-Italia Nostra and Progetto Natura Onlus that proposes the study of microbial capacities to degrade pollutants, the design of integrative bioremediation interventions for contaminated soils and the development of a platform for community involvement in a transparent and participatory process.

In 1905 Union de Gaz de Paris built the Grandi Officine del Gas in Bovisa, where energy for the city of Milan was produced. After 50 years of intense industrial activity, as gas production technologies evolved, a gradual decommissioning of the facilities began, leading to the final closure in 1994.

Following the stages of abandonment, nature gradually took back its space, thanks to a series of pioneer species, which rapidly developed new organic matter.The new soil generated and the arrival in the area of animals and insects allowed the establishment of new balances and the return of native plants from lowland forests. The forest to date is a complex and impressive moving ecosystem that covers about 24 hectares and has more than 16 thousand trees, with parts of the forest already mature and others in new formation.

In June 2021 we carried out a preliminary analysis of the wild vegetation of La Goccia, with the aim of revealing the ecosystem capabilities of the forest as a whole. We activated a participatory citizen science process: for five days about 40 people participated in the census and cataloguing of the tree, shrub and herbaceous species present. Provided by iTree Eco we used the sample area method, which enabled us to obtain in a short time an estimate of the ecosystem services provided by the forest.

The main objective of the Osservatorio La Goccia project is to study the ability of the current ecosystem to sustain a natural reclamation process, in order to identify the best intervention strategies and evaluate future modes of public use.