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The
Park of the River Po in Cuneo
Since
1990 the Region of Piedmont has been determined to safeguard the
entire Piedmontese section of the “Great River” by putting into
effect the “Sistema
delle Aree Protette della Fascia Fluviale del Po”
(the system of protected areas of the river Po and its
surroundings), a special form of protection divided into three
managing organizations:
The Park of the River Po in Cuneo, the Park of the River Po in Turin,
and the Park of the River Po in the Vercelli/Alessandria area.
In
all, 35,689 hectares of land and approximately 250 kilometers of
river are included, linked together in an ample protected zone in
which there are 9 Recreational Areas, 18 Special Natural Reserves,
and one combined Recreational/Special Natural Reserve.
The
managing organization of the Cuneo area is also charged with the
Natural Reserve of the Rock of Cavour, a site of noteworthy
historical and naturalistic interest, while the group of Alessandria
includes the Natural Reserve of the Orba Torrent.
The
reasons for which the Piedmont Protection System was established
include: the safeguarding of a natural environment of rare
beauty and riches, which is threatened by the advance of a
monotonous plains area with its increasingly frenetic human
activities; the developing and channeling of these activities
in accordance with respect for the land; to render enjoyable a
little-known environment rich in experiences that are full of life.
The
system of Protected Areas, also involved in land management, has at
its disposal instruments of control like the Area Project,
reclaiming degraded areas, taking care of problems of the river and
its banks, controlling the flow of the river’s water, and
upgrading the environment.
With
the typical Alpine landscape of Monviso, at 3481 meters above sea
level, as a starting point, one passes through a vast series
of varied landscapes linked together by a single thread : water and
the River Po.
The
river and its banks, seen as a single faunistic corridor in an
over-worked plains area, is an aquatic ecosystem which is delicate
but rich in biodiversity; a wild river as well as an “urbanized”
and over-built river; a river which links the activities of the
present with those of the past; a river and a land rich in history
and culture : this is what emerges from the guardianship of the
Piedmontese Park of the River Po.
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