Serchio River Park

The redevelopment of the entire area, which earned the city of Lucca the "Sustainable Cities Award 2000," provides well-equipped green spaces for sports and relaxation. Along the river, there are areas dedicated to recreational activities, cycling paths, horseback riding, rafting, canoeing, soccer fields, a bowling alley, archery, and model car racing. Furthermore, along the Serchio River, rare and otherwise extinct botanical species can be encountered, demonstrating an environment of undeniable natural value. This important ecological corridor between the mountainous areas and the coast, established as a Protected Area, also offers interesting wildlife viewing opportunities. The river offers ideal refuge, feeding, and breeding sites for various species. Finally, the route partially overlaps with the Puccini cycle/pedestrian route, dedicated to the famous composer from Lucca, which runs from Celle di Pescaglia (the Puccini family's birthplace) to Torre del Lago (the Maestro's villa on Lake Massaciuccoli).

The Walls of Lucca > The Serchio River Park

The Serchio River Park extends longitudinally between Ponte a Moriano and Nozzano, while laterally it encompasses the riverbed up to the outermost banks, known as the master banks. The area covered by the Urban Park includes the stretch between Monte San Quirico and the "il Palazzaccio" area in Sant'Anna.

The Serchio River Park encompasses areas representative of various environments. Besides being a place of great social and recreational value, it is also of undeniable naturalistic importance, both in terms of flora, vegetation, and fauna. The Serchio River, within the River Park, is suspended and flows between two banks that still allow the river to express its dynamic energy. Along its course, it forms deeper zones and areas characterized by greater sedimentation, resulting in the formation of ravines, bars, and islands.

On sandy soil, riparian vegetation consists of a more or less narrow strip of shrub and tree cover consisting of willows, poplars, elders, and black alders. The typical black poplar is increasingly rare, while the white poplar and non-native poplars grown in the floodplain as arboricultural plants are more abundant. On the barriers and river islands, typical vegetation grows, with helophytic species such as cattail, water iris, and purple loosestrife, while common reed is rarer.

The riverbank vegetation forms longitudinal corridors, sometimes interrupted by floods and clearings for hydraulic safety. Unfortunately, among the most visible and widespread species are two exotic species: black locust, better known locally as acacia, and tree of heaven. The floodplain areas, between the first and second banks, have been altered over time by human activity and are now characterized by extensive agricultural crops (particularly cereals and vegetables), timber arboriculture, and a network of settlements.

In the floodplain area, in addition to poplars and black locust, there remain individual specimens or small clusters of the original forest cover, consisting of alders, field elms, and oaks. Of the latter species, the small cluster preserved near the old dam on the Ozzeri River is worth mentioning.

The Serchio's fauna is rich and diverse, despite the varying levels of human activity. From a fisheries perspective, the area can be classified as a "Cyprinid" area. It includes rheophilic fish, which prefer oxygenated waters with a pebbly bottom, such as barbels and roaches, and limnophilic fish, which prefer muddy bottoms rich in vegetation, such as carp.

The fish community is characterized by native species, many of which are of conservation interest, such as the eel, the Tiber barbel, the common roach, and the brook goby. Other more common species include the chub, the common loach, and the common roach. Non-native species present include the bleak, the gudgeon, the Albanian redfish, the bluegill, and the Po river goby.

Along the Serchio River, habitats such as ditches, pools, dry stone walls, farmhouses, hedges, and rows of trees once existed, essential for the conservation of numerous amphibian and reptile species. Unfortunately, in recent decades, the environment has undergone changes, resulting in a loss of environmental diversity and a consequent impoverishment of herpetofauna. Currently, the common toad and the edible frog are certainly present, while reports of the tree frog and the European green toad need to be confirmed.

Among aquatic reptiles, the grass snake is present, and American water turtles are increasingly common. The unwise release of exotic turtles into the wild has led to numerous populations of free-living individuals, with serious consequences for local fauna (especially amphibians and fish), given the extreme voracity of these animals, which feed on invertebrates, fish and amphibian eggs and larvae. In the drier riverbeds and floodplains, wall lizards, field lizards, and grass snakes are observed.

The most striking fauna is undoubtedly that of birds. A study of the Serchio's ornithofauna recorded approximately 150 species, equal to a quarter of those known for Italy. Naturalized species are present, whose presence is due to human intervention, such as mallard ducks and geese, which particularly frequent the Petroni terrace area. Much more interesting are the numerous and far more elusive wild species, such as herons (gray heron, great egret, purple heron, little egret, night heron, cattle egret), the colorful kingfisher, and the little ringed plover.

The area hosts large roosting areas where cormorants and herons congregate. The Serchio is an important wintering site for the crag martin and one of the few locations in inland Tuscany where the common sandpiper regularly winters. Among the areas of greatest interest for bird conservation are: wooded areas with mature and dead trees, home to numerous species, particularly woodpeckers; gravel beds, where the little ringed plover nests and the common sandpiper rests; and sandy slopes where the bee-eater and kingfisher nest, and where the sand martin, a small and very rare river swallow, has nested in the past.

Mammals primarily frequent floodplain areas. The presence of insectivores, such as the common hedgehog and the European mole, is well known. Rodents certainly include species of little conservation value, such as the sewer rat and the house mouse, which prefers drier areas. Species of greater conservation interest are also present, such as the wood mouse, the squirrel, and the porcupine. It is also common to see the coypu, an extremely invasive alien species. Among carnivores, the presence of beech martens and weasels has been recorded, and foxes are common, while badgers are more difficult to spot, partly due to their predominantly nocturnal habits. The only ungulate currently present is the wild boar.

Finally, the presence of Chiroptera (bats) should be highlighted. Woodlands near waterways are favored by several species, which find suitable breeding sites in trees, located near insect-rich foraging areas. Treelines and strips of trees along waterways also serve as ecological corridors for their movements.