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This reserve was created in 1978 and covers an area of 16.213 acres within a natural park, including part of the territory of eleven municipalities in the Province of Novara: Castelletto sopra Ticino, Varallo Pombia, Pombia, Marano, Oleggio, Bellinzago, Cameri, Galliate, Romentino, Trecate, and Cerano.

The Ticino River Valley, located partly in the Swiss territory and partly between Lombardy and Piedmont, is protected (within Italy’s borders) by the Park of the Ticino Valley in Lombardy and the Natural Park of Ticino in Piedmont. In 2002, The whole Ticino River Valley was officially recognized as a Biosphere Reserve, part of the “Man and Biosphere Program” (MAB) by Unesco. After the recent expansion, this reserve now covers an area of about 370.000 acres.

The park is significantly characterized by the river and its valley, as well as the woods and the wetlands, which offer a most beautiful natural environment. Near the river valley, the landscape of the irrigated plain shows many and important human interventions, with several fountains, impressive hydraulic works, canals, irrigation and industrial ditches, dams, water meadows, farmhouses, mills, rice fields, cereal, grass and poplar cultivations.

To the north, there are the dry plains, the moors, the woods, the first morainic hills and the Maggiore and Comabbio lakes: they all add to the overall beauty of the landscape, with the Alpine chain and Mount Rosa in the background.

The woods of the Ticino Park:

The local woods are the last and most important forest area of the Po River Valley. They cover a total of about 50.000 acres and represent a valualbe feature of true excellence. The woods are, in fact, largely degraded and invaded by infesting exotic plants, such as the locust and the cherry tree. This was caused by several socio-economic reasons, such as industrial growth after the Second World War, the agricultural mechanization, the massive expansion of poplar cultivation, as well as intensive tree cutting and hunting. With the recent establishment of large river parks (Ticino, Adda, Lambro, Oglio, Mincio, and Serio), such annoying situation is currently been fixed.

Photo and text source: http://ente.parcoticino.it/il-parco/il-parco-in-cifre/

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)