Po River – Cuneo Tract (Saluzzo) - Piemonte Feel

Nature parks

Po River – Cuneo Tract (Saluzzo)

Category: Parks

Saluzzo

The entire length of the Po River running through Piedmont is under regional environmental protection, but the management of the river is divided among three different authorities in order to make it easier. The Cuneo tract consists of the first part of the Po Park and includes the mountain section of the river and where the river first flows into the plains, which becomes the “Granda” province. In fact, the river starts out from a system of high-altitude lakes and peat bogs - part of the Monviso Group – and historically, the river is identified at Pian del Re, in the Community of Crissolo at an altitude of 2,020 meters.
Flowing among the mountains and plains allows the Po River to cross through a vast quantity of diverse natural habitats as it makes its way over the territory of Cuneo, this offers a varied and defined panorama both in regards to fauna as well as to flora.
The plant life seen along the banks consists of larches, beech trees, and firs at higher altitudes and consists of willows and poplars on the plains. In the Pian del Re Special Nature Reserve, there is an extensive peat bog where the “relicts” of glacial flora grow, rooted in the area more than two hundred thousand years ago. Regarding fauna, there are alpine ibexes, the chamois, marmots, golden eagles, and ptarmigans and, in the rocky area, jays, white-winged snow finches, and alpine accentors nest. In the cold alpine lakes, trout swim. Going down the mountain, there are roe deer, deer, and squirrels which live among the larches. In the area of Saluzzo, the river slows its course and flows over large gravelly areas which offer the perfect place for European kingfishers and the small river swallows called “little mice” to nest. Among the protective vegetation, mallards, little egrets, black-winged stilts, and white storks can be seen.

Information

Area: 7,709 hectares
Altitude: 250 - 3,841 meters
Established: 1909
Environment: mountains, plains
E-mail: info@parcodelpocn.it
www.parcodelpocn.it
Head Office
Via Griselda, 8 - 12037 Saluzzo (Cn)
Tel. +39.0175.46505 - Fax: +39.0175.43710