Bosco del Traversante

The Environment
Between the expansion basins Casse Campotto and Valle Santa there is a 150 hectare strip of hygrophilous wood, remnant of a large hygrophilous forest. This wood type was very widespread in the lower Po plain before the reclamation activities carried out from the 15th century onwards.

The wood vegetation is relatively young: besides its natural renewal, it is being enlarged by the broad-leaved reafforestation carried out by the Consorzio di Bonifica Renana.

The wood is sometimes flooded by the water coming from the overflowing expansion basins nearby. Beyond the Bontea Canal, marking the eastern boundary of the flooded wood, there is a INFS Ornithological Station.

The Flora
Traversante is an hygrophilous wood dominated by the Small-leaved Elm (Ulmus minor), the Caucasian Ash (Fraxinus oxycarpa) and the White Poplar (Populus alba), which have a high naturalist value (Carici remotae-Fraxinetum oxycarpae).
Besides the above species, the shrubby layer is made of Cornus sanguinea, Prunus spinosa, Rhamnus catharticus, Rubus caesius, Alnus glutinosa and Clematis viticella. The Traversante wood is very important from the point of view of nature conservation, since it vegetation - which was quite common in the Po plain before the great reclamation works carried out between the 19th and 20th century - is nowadays very rare.
The eastern part of the Traversante wood is characterised by a small fresh-water basin called "Cavone".

Open water expanses are characterised by valuable bed-rooted hydrophytes (Nymphaeetum albo-luteae) with floating leaves and flowers (Nymphaea alba, Nuphar luteum, Polygonum amphibium), as well as by underwater species (Myriophyllum verticilatum, Ceratophyllum demersum).

The Cavone emersed parts are made of riparian woods with White Willows (Salix alba), White Poplars (Populus alba), Grey Poplars (Populus canescens) and Small-leaved Elms (Ulmus minor). Besides the above species, the shrubby layer is made of Dogwoods (Cornus sanguinea) and Alder Buckthorns (Frangula alnus), often festooned with Clematis vitalba and Humulus lupulus lianas. The herbaceous layer is formed by hygrophilous and mesophytic species (Salicetum albae). All around the Cavone basin there is a Hippuris vulgaris group, whose great naturalistic value is due to its being the only site in the Park. (Corticelli, 1999).
Some other rare and protected species make up the wood flora, such as the White Water-lily, the Summer Snowflake, the Bladderwort and the Hyppuris vulgaris (Pellizzari and Pagnoni, 1998).

The Fauna
The Traversante wood embodies a heron nesting-site peopled by Little Egrets, Night Herons and Squacco Herons. During the last years, almost the whole Cormorant colony (250 couples) has moved to this site.
The presence of nesting hobbies and of a large wood Passerine community is also worth noting (Costa 1998, Toso et al. 1999).

Visiting the Site
The Museo delle Valli di Argenta, situated inside the Casino di Campotto building along the Via Cardinala road, is open to the public Tuesdays to Sundays. Visiting the Traversante wood is possible only through guided visits by the museum operators. The Museum - a Historical-Naturalistic Documentation Centre - deals with this territory's evolution, fauna and flora. In 1992, it received the European Council Prize as best naturalistic museum of the year (tel. 0532/808058). The Museum also represents the departure point for some guided tours across the western part of the Traversante wood and to the Cassa Campotto-Bassarone basins (tel. 0532 808059).

Site Type	Woody area
Cartography	CTR 1:25.000: 222 NE; 222 NO; 204 SO; 204 SE
Surface	150 ha
Municipality	Argenta
Owned by	Consorzio Bonifica Renana
Managed by	Consorzio Bonifica Renana: conventions with Municipality of Argenta and Parco del Delta

Constraints
Hydraulic Constraint as Expansion Basin according to R.D. 3267/’23.
Environmental Constraint according to L. 431/85; D.L. 490/1999.
"Oasi Faunistica" (Fauna reserve) called “Valli di Argenta e Marmorta” according to Del C.P. 269/9330 of 18/07/1977.
Ramsar Site called “Valle Campotto e Bassarone” (1303 ha) according to DM 21/10/1978), published in Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 360 of 28/12/1978.
Bosco del Traversante is embodied in Parco del Delta del Po according to L.R. 27/1988 and within the perimeter established by Piano Territoriale di Stazione Del C.C. 132/17096 of 28/08/1991 (Zona B).
Special Protection Area (ZPS) (IT4060014) called “Valle Santa e Valle Campotto” according to the EU directive 79/409/CEE (1713 ha) and Site of Community Importance SIC (IT4060001) called “Valle Santa, Valle Campotto” according to the EU directive 92/43/CEE (1922 ha).