Sasso Mobile

Open only for guided tours; reservations required at the Tourist office +390516758409

San Gherardo Nature Reserve, with its birdwatching facilities and reptile and amphibian sanctuaries, is dedicated to the protection and conservation of local bio-diversity. Set up in a former gravel pit, the Reserve is the result of a long re-qualification process, reviving an area severely deplete by quarrying. Two vast drainage basins were created in the 68 hectare area along the banks of the Reno River, where trees, bushes, acquatic plants have been planted creating an ideal ecosystem in which rare plant and animal species, such as dragonflies, butterflies and freshwater reptiles and amphibians such as swamp tortoises, tritons, green and red frogs, toads and tree frogs can prosper. The ecological complexity of these wetlands has been enriched by the plantation of trees and bushes along the perimeter, creating an ideal sanctuary in which migrating birds can feed, breed and rest. Today the Refuge is home to typical wetland birds such as ducks, mallards grebes, grey herons, kingfishers, snipes and moorhens which nest along the Pliocene cliff walls.