Bosco Grande nature reserve
A remnant lowland forest in the Ticino Park.
The Bosco Grande is a nature reserve owned by the municipality of Pavia, Italy, and is part of the Parco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino. It preserves a remnant of the lowland forest that once covered the Po Valley.
Quick Facts
- Location
- Pavia
- Created
- 1968
- Operator
- Municipality of Pavia
Facts from the source article.
History
The Bosco Grande covers about 22 hectares southwest of Pavia and is one of the last remnants of the lowland forest that once covered the Po Valley, with an important testimony remaining in the Ticino Park. Its conservation stems from its history as a hunting reserve. In 1968 Giuseppe Negri, a timber dealer passionate about nature, left the park as an inheritance to the municipality; in 1967 he left the nearby Strict nature reserve Bosco Siro Negri to the University of Pavia. The park contains a 19th-century farmhouse about 500 meters from the Ticino. Between 1977 and 1981 the municipality completely renovated the farmhouse, which now houses a library, offices, kitchen, and educational laboratories, along with didactic farms of chickens, sheep, and goats and a vegetable garden. Tables, benches, and a lawn area for children's games were set up among the fruit trees. Since 1995 the Amici dei Boschi Association has collaborated with the municipality in managing the park, organizing educational initiatives with naturalists. A didactic path with arrows and explanatory panels exists inside the wood, but access is only during guided tours to protect the natural balance.
Fauna
The reserve hosts numerous bird species, including tawny owls, Eurasian blackcaps, little owls, Eurasian sparrow hawks, woodpeckers, common kingfishers, Cetti's warblers, pheasants, mallards, and common moorhens. Mammals present include brown long-eared bats, edible dormice, squirrels, hares, badgers, foxes, weasels, and wild boars.
Flora
The reserve, along with other lowland forests of the Ticino Valley, represents a rare example of Po Valley forest vegetation with low anthropic disturbance. The tallest trees reach 30 to 35 meters. Common species include English oaks, elms, hornbeams, and black poplars; in wetter areas grow silver poplars, common alders, and white willows. The non-native Robinia pseudoacacia is also widespread. The shrub layer includes hazelnuts, common hawthorns, and elderberries, while the grassy layer features anemones, dog's tooth violets, horsetails, lesser periwinkles, and wood violets.
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