Foci dell'Avisio

Summary

Located between the Avisio and Noce streams and the Adige River, the protected area is one of the few areas along the Adige valley floor that has not yet been occupied by urban settlements and agricultural land. It also represents one of the very few stretches of valley-floor watercourse that have not been altered by channelisation works. The area can be visited along the designated visitor trail. The reserve is also designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) within the Natura 2000 network.

Description

In the past, this area underwent significant alterations due to various human activities, mainly sand quarrying, extensive earthworks, military manoeuvres, motocross, intensive hunting and uncontrolled sheep grazing. Since protection measures were introduced, the area has been gradually regaining its original natural character and recovering its ecological potential, also thanks to environmental restoration projects and extensions of the protected area. Its main naturalistic interest lies in its extraordinary richness in wildlife, to the extent that the reserve can be considered a sort of “natural oasis” within an otherwise heavily altered valley floor. There are numerous species of fish, amphibians—including the rare yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata) and European green toad (Bufo viridis)—and reptiles, including both lizards and snakes. However, the greatest interest lies in the birdlife. The rich breeding avifauna includes species associated with aquatic environments that have become very rare, such as the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) and white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus), as well as two species of waders that lay their eggs directly on the gravel riverbed: the little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius) and common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos). The protected area is also an exceptionally valuable stopover, refuge and feeding site for all the many bird species that use the Adige Valley as a preferred migration route.