The Monte Barco biotope

<p>A circular route that takes us to discover the important protected natural area of Monte Barco</p>

<p>Monte Barco preserves a precious wetland made up of small and large marshes that are home to numerous plant and animal species.</p> <p>The Monte Barco biotope shows us an extremely original landscape aspect, very rare in Trentino, and a very particular morphology: small hills alternate with wide basins creating an undulating surface that owes its origin to the excavation and smoothing action carried out by ancient glaciers. Inside these basins there are 21 wet zones, marshes, or peat bogs of different sizes. Some of them in the past had some interest for peat extraction, which here may reach a thickness of 2 or 3 meters. Each wet basin, based on its peculiarities, hosts a different flora and vegetation, often including rare or very rare species. This gives the biotope an extraordinary environmental variability, a remarkable richness of animal species, particularly amphibians, including the rare yellow-bellied toad, reptiles, and birds.</p> <p>Along the way we will be accompanied by a dense forest of Scots pine and heather, which also houses some deciduous trees and, in the south-eastern portion of the biotope, spruce forests.</p> <p>The starting point of the route is located near the porphyry processing industrial area, on the outskirts of Albiano, and can be reached by following the signs for "Porfidi Montebarco".</p> <p>The circular route is easy and well marked and mostly follows a forest road or, in some sections, trails in the woods.</p>