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The area, which is included now in Riserva Naturale Statale di Metaponto, was uninhabited and occupied by wide marshes, where the infamous anopheles (the mosquitoes which bring malaria) lived, till the fifties. The beech presented low sand cords, while the internal areas were characterised by clayish and waterproof soils, which were hard to drip, so rainwater became stagnant and formed wide marshes in the depressed areas. The area was subjected to intense rehabilitation actions from 1925 through the construction of a drain net and of banking.  A convexing soil was created to form a thick cultivable layer of soil free of stagnation. Reforestation interventions were also made to complete the rehabilitation actions on order to create a stable vegetable cover, which could protect the hinterland cultivations from sea winds, which are rich in saltiness. These operations started in 1934 on the border with the province of Taranto. The area was given to Forest Rangers in 1942, which continued the reforestation actions till 1954. Nowadays a pine wood occupies the place of the marsh. The geological sublayer is composed of coastal dunes of the Holocene and actual beeches. The soils are still extremely poor, since not so much time has passed from the rehabilitation actions. The salinity level is high particularly in the areas next to the sea.

The environments
Two important rivers, Brandano and Basento, merge on the coast of the Ionic Sea. Their outlets are objects of interest of the European Community, which included them in Natura 2000 as sites of Community importance. These areas characterise themselves for the estuary environment, which includes the flood bed, the terraces plains and the remaining wet zones behind the dunes. These are depressed areas located under the level of the coastal dune with a superficial aquifer, which favours the formation of water stagnations. This is a varied environment rich in biodiversity, in which it is possible to identify priority habitat and areas of Community interest like the coastal dunes with junipers, coastal lagoons, a pioneer vegetation of salicornia and of other species in sandy and muddy zones and Mediterranean salt meadows. Riserva naturale statale di Metaponto was established after the results obtained with the reforestation actions in a complex coastal area. It extends for 240 hectares along the Lucanian Ionic coast, between the mouths of Brandano and Basento rivers, in the municipality of Bernalda. It is composed of various particular environments, a system of ecosystem connected and integrated with each other which protect biodiversity and from the sea:

– the wet areas, near the mouths of the two coastal rivers, with their typical hygrophytic vegetation (which prefers wet environments) and halophytes one (which prefers brackish and saline environments). They are the ideal habitat and shelter for migratory and sedentary;
– the areas in which only the Mediterranean scrub is present;
– the coastal pine wood, with the typical coastal pines.

Such an environmental richness plays a pivotal role in protective and ecological actions, for which it has been transformed in a Riserva Forestale di Protezione.

Flora and fauna
The species used during the reforestation actions are still present in the area. They are: Pinus pinea, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster, river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), Cupressus semprevirens, Eleagnus angustifolia, and Acacia saligna. This last variety covers wide areas with twisted and bushy specimen which form often impenetrable area. The undergrowth is composed of wild bushes typical of the Mediterranean scrub like lentisks (Pistacia lentiscus), Phillyrea variabilis, and junipers to which are associated also tamarisks. The grass layer is formed of species typical of the dune areas with water stagnations, such as Arundo phragmites, reeds, Eryngium maritimum, Arctium lappa, Smilax asperea, wild asparaguses (Asparagus acutifolius) and various gramineous plants. In addition, there are liquorices (Glycyrrhiza glabra) and Agave americana. The reserve hosts different species of birds in the migratory period such as warders (Tringa ochropus), grey herons (Ardea cinerea), black-tailed godwits (Limosa limosa) and Gallinula clorophus. Furthermore, an endangered species of sea turtle (Carretta carretta) lives along the coasts of the reserve and it is protected according to the Washington Convention by the Servizio CITES of Corpo forestale dello Stato.

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