PROMORIVER
Site description
The municipality of San Michele al Tagliamento, near the mouth of Port Baseleghe, near the tourist resort of Bibione Pineda was identified as the scope of action.
It is a coastal area located on the east bank of the Canal Lovi, and it can be accessed from the same named lagoon along a six hundred meters long canal sided by white and red dolphins (a man-made marine structure that extends above the water level and is not connected to shore) which is a part of the Venetian coast, the waterway that connects to inland waters, the Po to the lagoon of Venice all the way to Monfalcone.
The project areas delimited as follows:
● state area
● SIC site - Caorle lagoon mouth of the Tagliamento
● ZPS site Valle- Vecchia-Zumelle - Valleys of Bibione
● restricted areas on the basis of L. N.1497/39
● hydrogeological constraints
The Bibione area is of particular environmental interest because of its ecology, vegetation and flora as well as for its extraordinary aesthetical appeal.
From an environmental point of view the mouth of Port Baseleghe is a stopover for migratory species of continental importance.
Existing problems
The project intended to enhance, requalify and reconstruct the coastal habitats, taking advantage of the natural tidal and wind energy and intervening in an area of great natural value and more risk-sensitive due to the large tourist pressure during the summer season. Bibione is in fact the second beach in Italy for the number of tourists.
Objectives
The project’s main goal is to preserve the natural environment, to contain the loss of biodiversity, to protect natural areas and to conserve biodiversity of the project’s area of interest.
The Mediterranean garden provides in detail the development, requalification and the reconstruction of coastal habitats by exploiting the natural tidal and wind energy.
Mediterranean Coastal Garden
Porto Baseleghe, Bibione, Municipality of San Michele al Tagliamento (VE) Italy
Case study description
The project to develop the Mediterranean Coastal Garden is part of a wider Italian-Slovenian cross-border project cooperation 2007/2013 entitled “Cross-border networks for the sustainable management of the environment and biodiversity” SIGMA2.
Project statistics
Start date: 2012
End date: 2013
Partners: Universities of the Slovenian coast in Koper; Municipality of Isola (Slovenia); "Vena del Gesso Romagnola" Regional park (Italy); Province of Trieste (Italy); Regional development rural agency ERSA (Italy); Association of Agriculture; local action group of Carso; Veneto Region-Directorate of Food Production (Italy); University of Udine-Department of Food Sciences (Italy); University of Lubiana - Faculty of Biology (Slovenia); STARTER s.r.l., AGRITECTO; DE SERO plant nursery
Budget: €80000
Location: Porto Baseleghe, Bibione, Italy
Implementation
The Mediterranean Garden project is divided into different initiatives to be implemented in the identified area which are divided into actions for the protection and rehabilitation of dune areas; interventions for the enhancement of the area and interventions for the promotion of a responsible and sustainable touristic enjoyment. In particular:
1) Action for the protection and rehabilitation of dune fields, has requalified the existing dune system, through the removal of non-native weed species, rehabilitation of degraded areas and the laying of natural materials that favour the formation of the embryonic dunes thanks to capture and storage of sand carried by the wind. Regarding the rehabilitation of degraded areas, the action consisted in the manual cleaning of the allochthonous species of the area. Parts of the materials deposited in this area have been reused to serve as structures (sitting structures, etc.) and part of the material has been reused to the formation of a nucleus of embryonic dunes.
2) The second intervention to enhance the area has recreated, even for educational purposes, a portion of the shoreline - series of theoretical Embryonic shifting dunes - white - grey - dune depressions wet interdunal - consolidated dune forest vegetation, taking into account the local conformation of the site. Islands of shade have been created with dry elements and containment structures of essences selected for the creation of the islands of shadow which will be constituted by a modular metal structure. In the vicinity of the islands of shadow, flower beds will be built with planking. Furthermore paths in the wood will also be created.
3) Measures to promote a responsible and sustainable touristic enjoyment are aimed at, one the one side to the containment of flows in order to prevent the loss of biodiversity and the depletion of habitats, on the other to create information and awareness on the environmental values of the interested area. The tourists traffic is to be channelled in order to avoid them to pass through the dunes in no particular order, measures will be implemented in different ways according to the purpose they serve, that is to say in order to the educational function they exert or for the creation of physical and interdiction barriers. The preferential paths were left in natural terrain, while small sections were made with completely removable structures, which will be removed during the winter season. In addition, after completing the pathways the area has been equipped with some wooden furniture to point out some particularly interesting points of view. Information boards have been located at the beginning of the main paths or to warn about environmental emergencies.
The delivery of the final executive project of the Mediterranean Garden took place in October 2012. Agriteco company took charge of the planning.
It took some time for the work to be completed because it was necessary to request a set of permissions to various parties in order to proceed with the work, due to the peculiarity of the area of intervention subjected to multiple environmental constraints.
The Mediterranean Garden was created between 22/03/2013 to 23 June 2013 by De Sero Filippo plant nursery.
The Mediterranean Garden was delivered by Vegal to the City of San Michele al Tagliamento with special signing of the Memorandum of Understanding dated 19.02.2013.
Outcomes and success
The project area and its morphological structure show a landscape modified by numerous works performed in the area that have changed significantly human perception of water and ground space. In particular, the coast of Bibione is affected by the presence of large bathing facilities that have changed over time the original features of the shoreline.
The Mediterranean coastal garden fits into one of the rare coastal cases in which much of the natural elements have been kept while anthropogenic elements are also consolidated.
The planned intervention aims at protecting and enhancing the natural elements and typical coastal habitat that must be preserved in order to ensure biodiversity in an environment that has undergone numerous uncontrolled anthropogenic pressures.
The Mediterranean Coastal Garden of Eastern Veneto is set up as a project aimed at the preservation and propagation of genotype wild plants of cross-border areas, and the development of pathways and information boards for visitor purposes.
Future actions
We intend to keep the interest on the area in which the Mediterranean Garden has been created through the involvement of schools, with educational visits also using multimedia tools such as interactive guides to plants and App.
The same tools can be used in tourism, through activities such as guided tours by naturalistic guides.
We will also enter in agreements with voluntary social/environmental association for the management and maintenance of the area.
Lessons learnt
● Make the tourists appreciate a coastal area, hitherto neglected but of great environmental value and which is settled in a very evocative place.
● Make students understand what is a costal Mediterranean garden, how dunes are formed, what is the flora and fauna, stimulate them in the observation of nature and make them more aware and to respect more the biodiversity of the coastal environment.
● To point out the value of a territory and the potential represented by the development of protected areas.
