Protected Area
Identity Card
- Land Surface Area: 3'329.89 ha
- Regions: Emilia Romagna
- Provinces: Bologna
- Municipalities: Camugnano, Castel di Casio, Castiglione dei Pepoli
- Establishment Measures: LR 38 14/04/1995
- PA Official List: EUAP0961
Nature, Shadow, and Silence
85% of the Park is covered with woodlands. Chestnut tree, maple, hop hornbeam, service tree, hawthorn, downy oak, and beech tree (above the 800-900 meters) are among the dominating arboreal species. But there are also fir trees, giving a mountain aspect to the landscape. There are clearings, meadows, grazing lands, abandoned fields that have been gradually reconquered by spontaneous vegetation, and some cultivated fields, as well as ancient varieties of fruit trees along the mule tracks and the country houses.
Among the shrubs, there are the Spurge Laurel, the Dwarf Honeysuckle, the European spindle; some examples of the herbaceous flora are the Squill, the Columbine, and the Hardy geranium. And then, in the undergrowth: Hellebore, Violet, Primerose, Wood Anemone, Hepatica, Lungwort... and many many mushrooms.
Mountain Sea
From Milmo seaplane station to Trasimeno Lake, there is not in northern-central Italy a stretch of water larger than Suviana Lake, with a capacity of 42 million cubic meters, a surface area of 1.5 square km (and a 97-meter high dam). The lake, within the Park territory, is an ideal place for bathing and aquatic sports (with an equipped shore near the town of Stagno and various refreshment points). Associations and sport clubs, in collaboration with the Province of Bologna and the Municipalities of Castel di Casio and Camugnano, organize every summer various events in the area: surfing, canoeing, swimming with flippers, sport fishing, and even a particular triathlon (swimming, canoeing, archery). All these events are held within the program "Suviana Beach".
Geomorphology
The geological structure of the Park mountains can be read by observing, from one of the panoramic points offered by the highest summits, orography and landscape. The border between rocks of different nature appears with clear morphological passages corresponding to considerable changes in the general landscape layout.
Fauna
Among the mammals, the most representative species is without a doubt the red deer, which came back to live in these mountains some decades ago. Another ungulate, the wild boar, is rather common: it leaves almost everywhere the unmistakable traces of its passage, like holes in the ground (grubbing), trails, and mud baths. The roe deer is rarer and shy, and is mainly linked to shrub formations and thick coppice woodlands, where it crops buds and soft leaves.
Flora and Vegetation
Over half of the Park territory lies above the 700 meters of altitude, and the woodland covers the 80% of it. The latter mainly consists of beech tree, as a matter of fact the 34% of the forest surface area is represented by this species.
History
A particular feature of the Park is represented by the two artificial lakes of Suviana and Brasimone; the former, with a capacity of 46 million cubic meters, was built between 1928 and 1932 according to the plan by the engineers Francesco Pelagatti and Luigi Mirone; the latter, with a capacity of 6.6 million cubic meters, was built between 1910 and 1911 according to the plan by the engineer Angelo Omodeo.
The Watercourses
The main watercourses are torrent Brasimone, springing from Mt. Calvi and torrent Limentra di Treppio. Torrent Brasimone receives water from several tributaries. From the left, small creeks come: rio delle Piagge, rio Campane, rio Monte Calvi, rio Lavaccioni di sotto and Lavaccioni di sopra, and fosso di Ca' Fontana di Boia.
