Piemonte Italia

The Po River Park: The Vercelli – Alessandria Tract

In its final tract in Piedmont, the Po first flows across a landscape of hills and rice paddies, then enlarges as it flows down a valley into more natural and wild environments where it creates deep curves and builds islands of gravel. This is the route that the great river runs between Crescentino and Casale Monferrato, an environmentally protected area, as is the entire course of the Po River within Piedmont, and managed by a single River Park (Parco Fluviale) from an administrative point of view. For some time, this park has become a reference point for many research projects in collaboration with the University of Turin, the University of Eastern Piedmont, and the University of Pavia. Also teaching and educational projects for schools -all types and grades – have developed significantly thanks to the many natural study courses on the environment. The Po River Park is also experimental center and the national seat of the Italian branch of the Institute of Earth Education, an international “non profit” association of educators which offers alternative approaches to environmental study. Within the Park, there are eight well-indicated bike trails along the banks of the Po. The natural aspects of this tract are quite important due to the presence of numerous colonies of nesting birds, both in the wooded areas as well as the gravel areas. Nesting together on the sandy islands are small plovers and colonies of grey partridge, considered to be among the most important encountered off the coasts of Europe. This tract of the Po is also characterized by the presence of numerous migratory wading and predatory birds, among them, the brown kite and the swamp falcon.

Immagine: Archivio Ce.D.R.A.P - A. Farina

Area: 13,945 hectares
Altitude: 68-151 meters
Founded: 1990
Environment: plains

Head Office and Visitor Center
Viale Lungo Po Gramsci, 8/10 - 15055 Casale Monferrato (Al)
Tel. +39.0142.457861 - Fax: +39.0142.448196