Marzenego River

The river Marzenego originates in the province of Treviso and flows into the Venice Lagoon, after a journey of 45 km. The river flows through dispersed rural and urban land uses with intensive agricultural activities. Urbanization and agriculture activities have caused the degradation of water quality and river channels have been artificially modified, which in turn has increased the risk of flooding. In Italy, participatory processes in which citizens can volunteer, called “river contracts” have been adopted since 2007. The Marzenego river contract began in 2012. A total of 26 public and private organisations have signed the ‘Marzenego River Contract’ to support the improvement of the river system and engage citizens, local schools, homeowners and farmers.   

Among the various NBSs carried out within the Marzenego River Basin the MICS project will focus on two wetlands - Oasi Lycaena and Oasi di Noale - that have been recently restored, and on a new project which aims to enlarge and improve the performance of the Noale Oasi. The Oasi Lycaena wetland is a protected area of about 60 ha owned by the Metropolitan City of Venice. It was a clay quarry until the mid-70s. Following the end of the excavation activities and the subsequent abandonment of the area, the quarries underwent a process of spontaneous naturalization and as a consequence the area was transformed, in a few years, into a wetland of great biodiversity value. The oasis of Noale has a similar history to Lycaena, a quarry area that was later abandoned and therefore naturally redeveloped. Since the wetland creation, there has been an increase in biodiversity and environmental quality. Example of fauna sighted after the works include Lataste frog (Rana Latastei) and Red Heron.