The Salina di Comacchio is managed from CADF La Fabbrica dell’Acqua in collaboration with the Municipality of Comacchio and the Management Authority for Parks and Biodiversity – Po Delta.

The Salina di Comacchio can only be visited on opening days, with excursions on foot or by train or by appointment, accompanied by authorized guides.

The Salina di Comacchio is a particularly delicate protected area. Despite being an artificial environment, born and created by man for the production of salt, activity that ceased about 30 years ago, it is now populated by numerous species of birds, some even nesting and rare. It is therefore essential to approach this environment with the awareness of entering a precious treasure chest, custodian of testimonies of a distant and recent past, where you can still perceive the vastness of the valleys, the hard work of the salt workers and where you immerse yourself in a nature that enchants.

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The Salina di Comacchio covers an area of ​​about 550 hectares in the north-eastern part of the Valli di Comacchio. The whole area is characterized by elements of great environmental value and is therefore subject to an articulated system of constraints.

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The history of Comacchio, linked to salt since ancient times, has been very troubled by the continuous attacks and attempts at conquest, due to the strategic position of Comacchio along the trade route and the precious presence of salt works, for the production of ” White gold”.

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The historical information on the building called Torre Rossa (Red Tower) or Forte san Giuseppe (Saint Joseph Fort) are few and fragmentary. Its construction dates back to the second half of the sixteenth century, under the Duchy of Alfonso I d’Este.

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Sodium chloride, commonly called kitchen salt, since ancient times has been mainly used for food storage, thanks to its dehydrating and antibacterial properties.

Salt is essential for the life of all living organisms and is found in both tissues and plant and animal fluids. The ions released by salt molecules are essential for the transmission of signals in the nervous system of animals, for the movement of muscles, for the circulation of liquids in plants.

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The salt works contain species of plants and animals that have adapted to live over millions of years in these particular environments characterized by very salty water and mud.

Many of these species are vulnerable and the salt works favor their protection and conservation, thus guaranteeing the defense of biodiversity. Biodiversity means the set of all living organisms and their ecosystems present on our planet and can be interpreted both as genetic variability, as a wealth of species number, and as complexity and diversification of ecosystems.

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With the term “waders” we want to identify all those birds that spend a lot of time, either looking for food or nesting, in muddy environments. Different sizes and shapes of the beak indicate different diets, making possible a peaceful coexistence between the different species.

To try out species recognition it is useful to rely on characteristics that do not change with the plumage: for example, the shape of the beak, the color of the legs and eyes, the size of the beak with respect to the head.

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The flamingo is a large bird belonging to the order of the Fenicotteriforms, is a typically Mediterranean species, which nested for the first time in the Valli di Comacchio in 2000. It is one of the animals symbol of wet environments.

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The saline environment is characterized by high salinity waters. The flora includes a vast variety of species divided into shrubby and herbaceous, many of which have adopted different strategies to survive in such an extreme environment.

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The Salinetta was built in an area of ​​4 hectares, in the eastern salty part of the old saltworks, exactly in the southernmost basin of the eastern salt basins. The first intervention is due to a Life Natura project in the early 2000s. Since then, the goal of the Salinetta was to preserve and pass on the ancient trade of salt

and to produce a small amount of salt for demonstration and educational purposes, to underline the relationship between the community of Comacchio and the salt, which has marked the history of the territory and its people.

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