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Montemarcello Regional Natural Park

The Montemarcello Natural Park, located on the border between Liguria and Tuscany, is distributed along a significant portion of the Province of La Spezia. It includes the set of hills that divide the south-eastern waters of the Gulf of La Spezia from the Magra plain, the Monte Caprione promontory, the stretch of Magra river that flows through Ligurian land and the lower and middle course of its main tributary, the Vara.

With a protected surface of 2.726 hectares, the Park encompasses natural, historical, environmental and cultural values. It crosses the borders of up to 20 Municipalities, 4 Sites of Community Interest and two river areas.

Born in 1995 as a Single Body through the union of the Magra River Park with the Montemarcello Protected Area, the Natural Park, is characterized by the coexistence of areas of great naturalistic value with areas where there are different productive activities.

The regulatory structure in which the plan is articulated, is the result of an operation aimed at making the different uses of the territory harmonious, favoring the improvement of the environmental quality and the use of the park.

“Plan of the Montemarcello-Magra Regional Natural Park”, drawn up in 2001, is a multidisciplinary territorial organization and planning tool, in fact it takes into account the historical, natural, environmental, cultural and socio-economic values existing in its vast territory. The objectives set by the Plan aim at enhancing and conserving the naturalistic, landscape and environmental values present in the Park territory in order to safeguard and redevelop the wetlands and peri-fluvial areas by protecting the existing biodiversity, flora and fauna.

Within the Plan there is the “Framework of Objectives” which has been divided into General and Sectoral objectives. As far as the General objectives are concerned, they aim to promote scientific-cultural activity, dissemination, knowledge and sharing of the “ecological” contents of Sustainable Planning, which identifies ecological corridors made up of rivers and streams, wetlands and peri-fluvial areas, green barriers, hedges and areas for compensation and mitigation of impacts which together create a system capable of developing the network of Biotopes.

The Plan supports all activities, services and products that have quality requisites and that satisfy the aims of tourist, artisanal, agroforestry-pastoral, cultural and social development compatible with the conservation of the environmental and naturalistic values of the protected area. Among the Sectoral objectives, in addition to increasing biodiversity, the protection and monitoring of the various forms of pollution, the protection of flora and fauna and the monitoring of the landscape are the implementation of educational/dissemination activities and scientific research through activities such as: Botanical Gardens, Environmental Education Centers, equestrian activities and Bird Watching.

Other objectives, not secondary, are the improvement and enhancement of pedestrian, cycle and equestrian routes and the development and promotion of tourist accommodation.

The Park performs a particularly important function from an environmental and naturalistic point of view, hosting numerous animal and plant species and for this reason, despite being located in the peri-urban area, the area has been classified as a SCI (Site of Community Importance); the potential of this territory is wide starting from the extraordinary natural habitat to be preserved and recovered for use by the local population without neglecting rigorous respect for the environment.

Read also “Activities, relax and luxury properties in the Montemarcello Natural Park“