Punte Alberete and Valle della Canna, Pineta San Vitale and Pialassa della Baiona (2752)
Italy, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2002
National site name: Punte Alberete, Valle della Canna, Pineta San Vitale e Pialassa della Baiona
Central coordinates: Latitude: 44.5000, Longitude: 12.2500
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 1 to 10
Area of KBA (km2): 35.05666
Protected area coverage (%): 99.40
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: An area of mixed wetland and wooded habitats, a few kilometres from the northern Adriatic coast, north of the town of Ravenna. Punte Alberete (190 ha) is a flooded forest; Pialassa della Baiona (1,200 ha) is a brackish lagoon; Valle della Canna (260 ha) is a large reedbed; Pineta di San Vitale is a pinewood Pinus (not native, but planted in Roman times). Punte Alberete and Valle della Canna are used mainly for nature conservation, Pialassa della Baiona and Pineta di San Vitale mainly for recreation and hunting.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: This is an important breeding site for a wide variety of waterbirds, notably herons and terns, and is the best breeding site in Italy for Aythya nyroca and Acrocephalus melanopogon. Winter waterbird counts refer to winters of 1993, 1994 and 1996.
Habitats
Land use: agriculture (10%) | fisheries/aquaculture (40%) | hunting (85%) | nature conservation and research (15%) | tourism/recreation (40%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 28 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 30 | |
| Wetlands(Inland) | 38 | |
| Other | 4 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Coypu Myocastor coypus, a non-native aquatic rodent, is destroying the floating vegetation. `Other' threats (above) are (1) the unsustainable collection of mushrooms and other products from the pinewood and collection of mussels in the Piallassa della Baiona, and (2) the destruction of terns' nests built on the roofs of hunting huts in Piallassa della Baiona. The nearby industrial area of Ravenna causes water pollution. Some or all of the site is covered by a management plan. Bird studies are carried out by WWF-Italia, Università di Ferrara and Università di Pavia, while breeding gulls and terns are censused by LIPU and Provincia di Ravenna. Research is also carried out by Regione Emilia Romagna on those species and habitats that are listed in the EC Habitats and Birds Directives.