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It is located in the area of the municipalities of Torre del Passero, Bolognano and Scafa. It has an extension of about 320 hectares.

The presence of three different biotypes makes this place particularly interesting from a naturalistic point of view. These biotypes are the river, which forms a reservoir, the rushes with Phragmites australis and the hilly elevations in the surrounding area.

The reservoir has been created by the Alanno dam, a barrier built by Enel in 1931, in correspondence with the third jump of the Pescara river and it is flanked by a system of floods’ drainage, which feed the hydroelectric power station of Alanno. The basin has slowly buried itself during the years till it created a wide pond, which is a shelter for many water species. Unfortunately, a fire broke out in 2011 and it destroyed nearly all the rushes, the widest of Abbruzzo, and an important shelter for many water birds.

Arundo donax , Typha latifolia, Alisma plantago-aquatica,  Lythrum salicaria and Iris pseudacorus grow here and there is also a riparian vegetation with specimens of  white willow (Salix alba), poplars (Populus spp.), black alders (Alnus glutinosa), ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) and downy oaks (Quercus pubescens).

The area offers shelter to numerous species of birds like mallards, teals, pochards, moorhens, little grebes, marsh harriers and Eurasian Hobbys . There are also badgers, foxes, martens, boars and weasels.

Sore points: the rushes have been nearly destroyed by the fire of 2011.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)