Environmental restoration of Selvote peat bog biotope
The project aims at the environmental restoration of Karst springs in the Selvote peat bog natural biotope (at Castions di Strada), in order to recreate wetlands where the flora species of greatest naturalistic interest can take root. The management plan of the biotope envisages the maintenance of the habitat naturalistic value and the conservation of biodiversity; the naturalistic restoration of lands that have been abandoned by intensive agriculture, also by experimenting and assessing various types of plans and crops; the removal and the environmental restoration of artificial ditches, drainage, and embankments; interventions on the hydrographical grid in order to restore favourable water conditions for the natural habitat. The main activity on cultivated land is the removal of the surface layer of agricultural soil - tilled and mixed by ploughing - thus favouring the removal of nutrients from cultivated land, bringing to light the deposits with a lower content of nutrients, which are suitable to the oligotrophic species of peat bogs. The removal of the earthy layer tends to bring to the surface the gravelly-sandy deposits, that guarantee a better colonization by autochthonous species. The next stage is the removal of canals and ditches that contribute to the drainage of the water bed to the detriment of the most characteristic and valuable habitats. At the end of the morphological remodelling, the herbaceous cenosis reimplantation will be carried out, after working on the land by bringing in propagation material (seeds, hayseed and chaff, sods) suitable to the specific stational conditions. Scrub-clearance will be performed in the remaining part of the peat bog and on its wooded edges.