Reportage "Tarquinia salt pans, a treasure chest of biodiversity and geodiversity"
The Saline di Tarquinia Nature Reserve is a hyperhaline wetland area, among the few remaining in the Tyrrhenian Sea, in whose extension various geological-environmental aspects are represented. The area is mostly occupied by shallow water basins, almost all communicating, salty and hyperhaline, separated by stone and wooden embankments. The Tarquinia Saline, currently SPA (Special Protection Area) and SAC (Special Conservation Area), became a protected area in 1980, as it was recognized as having a high naturalistic value, with environmental characteristics particularly suitable for stopping and the nesting of numerous migratory birds.
Seven habitats protected by the EU Habitats Directive are represented, in which rare and threatened botanical species typical of environments with a high concentration of salt grow and around 220 species of birds live, including numerous nesting ones.
The reportage "Tarquinia salt pans, a treasure chest of biodiversity and geodiversity" was created during an excursion organized by ISPRA, in collaboration with the Carabinieri of the Biodiversity Protection Unit of Rome.
On 8 February, in the occasion of the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention, guided tours to discover the aquatic avifauna will be held at the Tarquinia salt pans. The Convention concerns wetlands of international importance and aquatic birds.