Overview
The Ca' di Mello Oasis is located on the island of Donzella, a large strip of land surrounded by the branches of the Po and the Adriatic Sea, in the Veneto part of the Po Delta, within the regional park of the same name. It is part of a set of environments of great landscape and environmental value, so much so that it has been designated a Site of Community Importance (SCI): next to the oasis, in the SCI, are the Bonello biotope, the Donzella forest and the Cassella pine forest.
The visit to the oasis begins at the visitor centre, which is housed in the traditional local houses: low peasant houses, typical of the lower Polesine area, which have been restored and now house a permanent exhibition telling the history of the place. We then start walking (or, if desired, cycling) on the paths that cross the approximately 30-hectare marsh basin, a basin that illustrates - like many other areas in the area - the complex history of floods, land reclamation and drainage that has affected the entire Po Delta area, the result of a never-ending tug-of-war between man and nature. In particular, at Ca' di Mello, the environment has been rehabilitated since 1990: species of trees and shrubs typical of the marsh have been introduced, new basins have been created to increase fauna, and modifications have been made to allow the growth of reeds. The redevelopment project was successful and today many species of plants and animals can be admired at Ca' di Mello, particularly birds; herons, which nest here in a large heronry, are among the most common, but there is no shortage of kingfishers and other small birds.
