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BioTiles: the first outing along the Stella River and the Marano Lagoon
On 10 July, the first public excursion of the BioTiles project took place, funded by the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme 2021-2027. A group of participants, made up of local associations, explored by Canadian canoe the stretch between the Stella River and the Marano Lagoon, accompanied by local guides.
We started from Pepi’s Bilancia, a curious name that comes from an ancient fishing method: a square net stretched over two crossed hoops, lowered into the water and then jerked up with a long pole, trapping the fish inside.
From there we went back up the river, which rises in Flambro and reaches the Marano Lagoon. Along the way the guides explained how some choices, seemingly small, really make a difference for the stability of these habitats: this is the case of Spartina maritima, planted to protect the salt marshes (the land that stays submerged only at high tide), whose roots hold the mud and slow the erosion of the edges.
The group also skirted the casoni, the old fishermen’s houses made of reed and wood, still standing despite the years and the tides.
There was no shortage of encounters with local wildlife: swans, as you’d expect in these settings, but also a pair of oystercatchers, birds that nest only on beaches and that today are increasingly rare due to human pressure on the coasts.
The excursion ended by crossing the river mouth and entering, for a short stretch, the open lagoon, before heading back toward the starting point.
This first outing is part of BioTiles’ environmental awareness activities and paves the way for other public events, designed to showcase up close the lagoon’s biodiversity and the importance of protecting it.
