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Salso Lake Oasis is a wetland located in the Municipality of Manfredonia, in the Province of Foggia; it has been acknowledged as a Site of Community Importance (SIC IT9110005) and it’s a Special Protection Area (SPA IT9110038).

The whole oasis of about 2.570 acres is covered by wetland (almost half of it) mainly featuring Phragmites australis (reeds), Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaf cattail), Iris pseudacorus (yellow iris), and Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife). The remaining half of the oasis hosts agricultural land cultivated according to organic farming techniques.

The remarkable local fauna includes ducks, wigeons, mallards, garganeys, rare ferruginous ducks, pochards, marsh harriers, coots, moorhens, kingfishers, penduline tits, grebes, cranes, and black-winged stilts. There is also a protected colony of white-headed ducks, an endangered species which can be found only here and in Veneto.

The oasis can be visited with electric boats or along a 3-mile route along the entire valley.

It features a visitor centre and some teaching rooms with a laboratory for the schools.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)