PARCO DEL TICINO

Ticino Regional Park is the oldest river park in Italy. The Ticino rises and flows in Switzerland till it enters the Lake Maggiore, it comes out again in Italy by Sesto Calende and ends into the Po by Fonte della Becca.Its course is constantly changing because of human intervention, especially the complex reticle of channels and divertions both for the purpose of irrigation and with the intent to be utilised by hydroelectric plants. In  2002 the Global Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR – World Network of Biosphere Reserves) endorsed the Ticino Valley  (Piedmont and Lombardy) as a Reserve of the MAB Biosphere. The uniqueness of the oak and hornbeam forests ,found in the Po Valley, the wealth of ecosystems and biodiversity that this “living treasure chest” contains, blended with centuries and centuries of man made works of artistic and architectural treasures.