Lombard Park of the Ticino Valley

The Lombard Park of the Ticino Valley, the first regional park in Italy, was founded in 1974 to defend the river and the many natural environments of the Ticino Valley from the attacks of the increasingly invasive bouts of industrialisation and urbanisation.

The landscape of the Ticino Nature Park is strongly influenced by the river and its valley, which constitute a unique example of great importance and beauty.

Next to the river valley, the landscape of irrigated plains testifies to the rapid changes that man has made to these territories.

The presence of numerous springs, major hydraulic works, ancient systems of crops and other elements that characterise the rural landscape make this a point of reference in the Ticino Valley and a site of great panoramic importance.

The Ticino Valley is an area of great biodiversity, where a large variety of environments - streams, coniferous forests, lowland forests, heaths, wetlands, lowland agricultural irrigation systems and arboreal woods – correspond to a wonderful variety of habitats which provide the particular conditions for the survival of many species of animals and plants.

The flora of Ticino Park is a sort of summary of the valley's vegetation throughout history, as evidenced by the forest lands similar to those of Europe's great alluvial forests that stood before human settlements came into existence.

Ticino Park is home to the finest species of wildlife in the Pianura Padana (Po Valley), providing the permanent habitat for 48 species of mammals.

Following the disappearance of the wolf, this area became inhabited by carnivorous predators such as the marten, fox, badger, weasel, skunk, and weasel , which play a key role in regulating the biological equilibrium.

The Ticino river has always been a natural border between civilizations, nations, peoples and rulers, who significantly fortified this strategic area mostly with towers and castles, including the manors of Vigevano, Pavia, Somma Lombardo and Bereguardo.