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Riserva Naturale dei Ghirardi, was instituted in December 2010, is located in Alta Val di Tarzo, in the South-Western part of the province of Parma, and it is divided between the municipalities of Albareto and Borgo Val di Taro. It is located inside the wider WWF Oasis by the same name. It has a surface of about 370 hectares (about 600 with the oasis WWF), with an altitude between 478 and 693 metres above the sea level.

The idea of protecting this area dates back to the fifties with the Marchini-Camia family and in particular to Senator Francesco. The project was carried on by the sons who asked for the institution of the fauna oasis in 1980 and made an agreement of Italy’s WWF in 1996 to include it in the system of the association’s protected areas. Since 2010 the reserve  has been managed by the province of Parma, with the involvement and convention of WWF; since September 2013, the Region has transferred the competence to the nee-instituted Ente di Gestione per i Parchi e la Biodiversità dell’Emilia Occidentale, which has kept the convention with WWF.

The reserve includes a good part of SIC IT4020026 – “Boschi dei Ghirardi”. The complex formed by Reserve, oasis and SIC enclosed the environment typical of the middle-Apennines mountain: coppices, forests with tall trees, cultivated fields, meadows, bushes, streams and small marshes, with a wide biodiversity both animal and vegetal, ideal for supporting didactic and scientific environmental research. Here live numerous animal, plant and mushroom species with rare habitats and an enchanting atmosphere.

Photos from the web

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)