|
Maremma Natural Park is located in Southern Tuscany
and is part of the Province of Grosseto (Provincia di Grosseto); it
includes a strip of coast of about nine thousand and eight hundred hectares
which spreads from the town of Principina a Mare, to the north, up to
Talamone promontory, to the south. The coastal line has been subjected
to many changes, not only during the geological periods but also in
recent times: this explains why it has moved forward to the south of
Marina di Alberese, and why it has considerably moved back on both sides
of the mouth of the River Ombrone (Fiume Ombrone). From a naturalistic
point of view, the whole group characterised by the Uccellina Mountains
(Monti dell Uccellina), the pine-wood of Marina di Alberese, the
mouth of the River Ombrone and Trappola marshes (paludi), represents
a precious mosaic of ecosystems on which man has intervened in different
ways and moments: in doing so he has contributed to further changes
of the landscape, without degrading or impoverishing it.
The main part of the Park is characterised by
the Uccellina Mountains, a chain of hills parallel to the coast and
covered by the thick Mediterranean maquis, which ends with the Lecci
Hill (Poggio Lecci). The northern area of the Park is flat and characterised
by flood-lands which were formed by the sediments transported by the
river Ombrone, near whose mouth one can see the typical palustrine environments
denominated Chiari della Trappola. These are humid areas, whose origins
could have been determined by the progressive moving forward of the
beach which would have then included old small lakes near the coast,
or they could be remains of canals created by the stream back or even
wreckage of a very old deltaic mouth. The coast, which has developed
for about twenty kilometres, is a succession of sandy shores which stretch
from the Ombrone mouth to Cala di Forno, where the Uccellina mountains
create cliffs which continue up to Talamone promontory. As for the covering
of the soil and the vegetation, the whole territory of the park includes
completely different environments, such as fields used for pasture,
the Mediterranean maquis, rocky areas, pine-woods, marshes and sandy
dunes. As for the climate, in the area of the Park it is possible to
experience continental, Mediterranean and subdesertic situations which
explain why there is such a variety of species of vegetation.

|