Riserva Naturale Valle Canal Novo
Via delle Valli, 2 -33050-
Marano Lagunare - ITALY
Phone and Fax: 0039.0431.67551
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Riserve Naturali di Marano

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The 2 Reservations

Marano’s Oasis has 2 natural reservations:

 

Riserva "Foci dello Stella"

One of the peculiar and distinctive environments of the entire lagoon is probably the Regional Natural reservation “Foci dello Stella”. This area was also previously known as the Marano Lagunare Avifaunistic Oasis.

The Reservation has a surface of 1377 hectares including the delta of the Stella River and the adjacent lagoon-like area.

The river, towards the end of its course, flows slowly and calmly through wings of reed thickets. The stunning landscape is an extended thicket crossed by a huge water network, slowly proceeding to the lagoon. The thicket, a biotype once extensively diffused in the upper Adriatic coastal areas, today rare and precious, it is the most common expression of life of the Oasis. It is a unique environment for its nature and expansion.

A reason of remarkable naturalistic value is the exceptional presence of avifauna. Numerous are, for both species and quantity, the birds which populate and animate the swampy environment during the year.
Many stop by during migrations, others will spend here the winter, others find here the perfect place to nest.

The importance and the international relevance of the Foci dello Stella have been officially stated in 1979, declaring the entire area “humid area of international relevance” as habitat for aquatic birds following the Ramsar convention.

This Reservation is accessible only via water. The visit therefore takes place in boats.

 

Riserva "Valle Canal Novo"

The valley (from the Latin vallum = embankment), at once used for fish breeding, is a lagoon-like area, with expanses of water and sandbanks (left dry only occasionally by the lagoon’s water), not subjected to the tides due to perimetrical embankments. Two dams allow to regulate the water’s level on the inside, connecting the valley with the lagoon. The valley does not receive fresh water from the inland, but only through rain and 3 artesian wells.

The management of fresh water from the wells and the realization of other devices allowed to differentiate the salinity from area to area, as to increase the valley’s biodiversity.
As a matter of fact, the entire lagoon is a very complex and diversified territory, where the groups of plants developed reflect very well the variety of salinity conditions both in the water and on the ground. Concerning vegetation, these conditions favour the development of various plants’ consortia. The most common flowery plants are the ones used to live on grounds rich in salts (sodium chloride).

In the visitors’ centre it was possible to reproduce some of the above-mentioned plants’ consortia.

Short description of the services and routes offered by the natural reservation Valle Canal Novo within the Comune of Marano Lagunare: