The protected "biotopes": what are they?

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Biotopes are small protected areas set up to guard precious natural environments situated in the Province of Trento. According to the provincial act (L.P. 23rd June 1986 nr. 14 and following changes) are considered biotopes only the areas that present these special qualifications: • damps areas that are important for the safeguard of the regimen and quality of water; or that constitute a source of feeding or place of reproduction and break for the water-birds during the migration periods; or where particular flora and fauna live; • other areas where animals and flowers, which are very important for the naturalistic point of view, find their ideal habitat. A modern preservation strategy The 67 protected biotopes include several kinds of aquatic environments such as lakes, pools, marshes, peat-bogs, damp meadows etc. that because of the human activities risked to be strong altered or even to disappear. But also some dry areas and forests are guarded. On the whole the biotopes, even if they cover only a small part of territory (less than the 0, 5 % of the total surface), set up a good organized and efficacious protection system. They carry on a significant role in the preservation of the vulnerable naturalistic heritage of Trentino. The survival of some really rare flowers and animals is tightly bound to the existence of these small reserves. You have just to think about the extraordinary flora that lives in the marshes or about the importance of the biotopes for the reproduction for many kinds of amphibians and aquatic birds. The management: nature and culture The running of these protected areas is not simply a passive guard, but it forecasts also different interventions to make the most, according to the characteristics of each biotopes. In order to improve the receptivity towards flora and fauna, in a large number of them have been realized projects in order to restore the natural environment and to help increasing the bio-varieties. Biotopes are also good places for scientific researches; here it is possible to deepen the knowledge about the complex balances that regulate the ecosystem. Moreover, thanks to the intervention to make the most such as didactics ways and programs, visitor centres and so on, the biotopes became precious to spread out the naturalistic culture and the environmental education.