The inland waters of the Salento Lecce

The inland waters of the Salento Lecce


Antonio Bruno *

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The internal areas of brackish waters of the Salento Lecce were once wetlands. The environments that were created after the clean up are of great value, it is possible to recognize the order, the vegetation of sandy and rocky coasts, typical of humid dune areas, the marsh, the Mediterranean.

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Salento Lecce is a part of Messapia (ie land between two seas) name given to the territory by Greek historians because it has a wet both sides of the Ionian Sea and another from the Adriatic. On these slopes there are brackish inland waters that communicate with the sea and almost all of which are suitable for breeding fish. As you did not know that the fish are raised? The woman and man from where it exists, then millions of years ago, have inhabited the coastal areas and the sea is used to feed on fish, molluscs and fish or marine animals in aquaculture, both for use as a communication, in fact the oldest archaeological remains of boats date back to around 4000 years ago.

However you out of your head that the rearing of fish, which is defined fish (including fish farming), it is easy to implement. Well is not that you take the fish, it is cast in brackish inland waters of the Salento Lecce, expect a bit 'of time so that it grows and then becomes an adult. Does not work that way, because fish farming is a practice that should be done in a rational manner.

In a recent conference held in Lecce, I heard the words of Professor worry. Ferdinando Boero on the practice of farming fish that can be summed up in a small fish to feed on fish that will become larger. A practice that has a huge impact and that does not occur so that more sustainable prof. Boero said that there is less and less fish in the Mediterranean and the proof of this lies in the increasing presence of jellyfish. In practice, if the fish are not here to increase the jellyfish thing which is continuously monitored by the project "Watch out for jellyfish," started last year with the idea of Prof. Ferdinando Boero, which as we all know is a professor of Marine Biology University of Salento, and promoted by the Commission for the Mediterranean, from the National Inter-University Consortium for Marine Sciences (CoNISMa) and by environmental Marevivo.

The brackish water inside the Salento Lecce that were once wetlands, and thus lack of fauna that can be used by man, you need to be populated by large and small mammals, insects useful life of plants and fish that feed hopefully jellyfish counted on the design of prof. Boero.

Another circumstance to be taken into account is that large areas with brackish waters are adjacent to the wooded areas of Salento, Lecce and woods of our country there are 85 thousand hectares of forest of olive trees as stated by my colleague and friend Agronomist Antonio Cesari.

But the thing that everyone, but really everyone, without exception, have forgotten, is that the inner waters of the Salento Lecce have originated from large housing through the creation of reclaimed marsh tidal channels. This reclamation is the brainchild of Combatants of the National Opera and the then Civil Engineers on such land reclamation classified according to the law on land reclamation the famous Royal Decree number 215 of February 13, 1933. The same law still in force for the land reclamation consortiums.

This water marsh, through the action of Reclamation, are now free, clear, flowing and healthy.

But what are these tidal basins of Salento Lecce? Each basin is tidal marshes of the old reservoir in which they lived frogs, turtles, freshwater rushes and cane. The original flora and fauna has been replaced by a marsh flora and fauna of salt water or marine species such as families of Muggititi.

But how many and how extensive are the internal waters of the Salento Lecce?

We start from the Ionian coast where we find the Marshes of the Count (Serra Angels) with the channels that flow into them they are part of the district of Reclamation Consortium Arneo and have an extension of less than 12 hectares, in the same consortium are the marshes fellicche faith and extension of 8 hectares in these basins are the Ipomoea sagittata marsh orchid and unusual plants such as thistle, birds like the kingfisher, little grebe, usinolo of the river, and the hawk Beccamoschino Marsh, as well as the marsh turtle and a variety of dragonflies. Arneo are still in the district of Porto Cesareo basins that are the former marshes Tanari dell'estesione of 12 hectares. You heard right now where you go to bathe in beaches that seem the Seychelles had malaria! Think you that sway in costume on these shores, under the blazing sun that is reflected in the crystal.

Also in the Salento Lecce side but that is bathed by the Ionian sea there are "water and funnels the passure" Li Fogg "in the territory of Gallipoli, which extend for about 9 acres and all that remains of the marshes, unhealthy and marshy notorious with the names of patula, Gallarate, Chou and Li Fogg. In these depressions huge rotted all the water from the districts and the wetlands' Li Fogg "(the term" Fogg "I mean) had extended 110 hectares, an enormous expanse of water putrid.

Today you can see that now flows into the Channel Samari Gallipoli near the Costa Brada, risen in the news these days for the garrison of volunteers who want to protect the function. I hope that the volunteers do these days who want to protect the sea from pollution mindful that the wetlands that I wrote was from the exhaust of the canal Samari, who at that time was closed by the banks and therefore not having the sea sboco because of the sand dunes that blocked the mouth.

I will remember the knight in Augusto Auverny this note of Gallipoli who first attempted the reclamation of the area, "Li Fogg." Today there is much talk of wind turbines, wind powered, but then rose to pour the waters of the marsh into the sea.

Augusto Auverny of Gallipoli was able to drain and reclaim the land that bore his name, only that Auverny dialect became the "Varni.

Even today, comes the echo of the vegetables and watermelons produced in the area impassable once swampy, the famous "you Malune Varni 'or watermelons of the lands of Mr. Auverny.

Finally, for the Ionic coast in the district of Reclamation Consortium "Ugento Fogg and Li 'are the basins of Ugento extended to 46 hectares.

Basins Ugento meet between Torre San Giovanni and then at Punta del Macalone Torre Pali, behind the beaches are characterized by the presence of low dune ridges.

Follow each other from north to south, the result of different clean-up projects in the time, the basins Suddenna, Bianca, Ulmo Rottacapozza North and South, North and South Spunderati and then, not connected with others, the pool of Pali .

All the areas described for their natural value and their importance as wetlands, have been incorporated for some time under the European Directive Habitats 43/92 in the Sites of Community Importance (SCI), and as such deserve protection and conservation as privileged sites of important biodiversity.



* Agronomist