Ecological Connections Project

The Ecological Connections Project - Cariplo Call envisages the consolidation and development of an environmental system capable of encouraging the passage and permanence of local fauna in the agricultural territory crossed by the Roggia Ticinello, starting from the area of ​​the Ticinello Agricultural Park located in close to the city.

The Project is part of a broader path which has as its objective the protection and landscape enhancement of a rural area preserved in the main typical elements of the Lombard countryside, made up of productive plots delimited by a dense network of waterways flanked by rows trees, still capable of feeding one of the rare water meadows still active within the municipal territory.

  • The creation of lowland forests covering an area of ​​approximately 6 hectares by planting 10.500 new plants.
  • The restoration of natural elements of the agricultural landscape such as hedges and rows.
  • The naturalistic redevelopment of the Ticinello cable as regards the riverbed, the aquatic ecosystem and the banks with the creation of bands of shrubs.
  • The creation of two wetlands for a total surface area of ​​approximately 1.000 mXNUMX. connected with the Ticinello and the Scarpogna canal to encourage a new presence of aquatic flora and fauna.

The new woodland plantings increase the surface area of ​​the territory which guarantees places of refuge for all those animal species which make these ecosystems an elective habitat (Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Sparrowhawk), a resting place during migration (Blackcap, Nightingale) and an area of refuge during the delicate winter hibernation phases for Reptiles, Amphibians and Small Mammals leading, hopefully, to an increase in the number of species or individuals, we will also proceed on an experimental basis with the installation of artificial nests.

In the preliminary stages of the interventions, monitoring of the animals and insects present in the area was also carried out. 42 species of birds were observed, among the amphibians the Italian Tree Frog, the European Green Toad and the Green Frog, 19 species of diurnal butterflies and 18 species of Dragonflies.

The first step towards nature conservation is knowledge of its beauty.

This project develops in a densely populated territorial context and can constitute an important opportunity to allow people to get closer to nature, experience it and respect it.

For this purpose, various educational noticeboards will be placed in the various environments created to illustrate their ecological, faunal and floristic characteristics.

Environmental improvement actions, such as the creation of wetlands and lowland forests, will be accompanied by "nature education" initiatives for the knowledge of the natural elements (flora, fauna and ecosystems) present.

The Ecological Connections Project together with the larger Ticinello Agricultural Park constitutes a laboratory for the creation of approaches, in particular for the new generations, to the discovery of a new way of experiencing nature a stone's throw from the city.

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Updated: 09/12/2022