The Diaccia Botrona Nature Reserve extends over the area originally occupied by Lake Prile in the eastern part of the municipal territory. Among the Tuscan wetlands, the SIR Diaccia Botrona is the one that hosts the largest number of wintering aquatic birds, moreover it has characteristic floristic populations with numerous rare hygrophilous species. The area is protected as an area of great importance for the rest, wintering and nesting of aquatic birds, in particular among the ICBP sites in recent years it has been the most important wetland in Tuscany for the wintering of ducks and of great importance also for the nesting of herons and Circus aeroginosus.
The nature reserve includes the vast marshy area between the Bruna river and the stretch of pine forest along the Castiglione-Marina di Grosseto road, as well as the pine forest itself.
Phragmites australis, which originally covered the entire extension of the swamp, has significantly reduced its size, largely replaced by halophilous vegetation ( more suitable due to the increased salinity of the water), with rushes, glasswort and limonium. More than 200 species and subspecies belonging to 134 families with rare plants such as Crypsis aculeata and Juncus subulatus are found in the marsh.
Static lands, wet meadows and hygrophilous woods are also decreasing.
Also important are the residues of hygrophilous arboreal vegetation, with bone ash trees, elms, willows and tamarisks and white poplars.
The pine forest is located on the sandy tombolo and is made up of majestic stone pine trees, with a thick Mediterranean scrub undergrowth, in which cistus and rosemary flourish. In the undergrowth there are also other sclerophyllous species such as myrtle, fillirea angustifolia, mastic, tree and multiflora heather, Lycian juniper and macrocarpa, the holm oak and downy oak.
Periodically flooded meadows extend between the marsh and the pine forest.
Between the pine forest and the sea we find evergreen scelophyllous vegetation with phyllirea, juniper, heather, rosemary, myrtle, cistus and smilace with sporadic maritime pines.
Between the sea and the vegetation of the fixed dune we find instead herbaceous vegetation of the psammo-halophilic type (resistant to saltiness and capable of growing on pure sand) represented by Anthemis marittimus, < /strong>Medicago marina, Ammophila arenaria and other typical species that are disappearing both in Tuscany and in Italy.
Note the presence of coastal strips of dune vegetation (Ammofileto or Crucinelleto).
In the SIR we note the knotty brasca (Potamogeton nodosus): in Tuscany the species is present as a relict in some wetlands, such as Lake Chiusi, Diaccia Botrona, Padule di Bientina and Lake Montepulciano.
Fauna
Even if the aforementioned increase in salinity has reduced the nesting of species linked to the reeds (bittern, purple heron and marsh harrier), the Reserve maintains a great wildlife importance due to the presence of numerous bird species.
Among these, large numbers of flamingos, wild geese, ducks (especially mallards, teals and wigeons) winter here, but also great egrets, cranes, ospreys and royal harriers, while the periodically flooded meadows are frequented by snipes, gossips and other waders.
In the open areas, black-winged stilts and stone curlews nest, while the pine forest, in addition to the large heronry with gray herons and little egrets, hosts species of notable interest such as European rollers and crested cuckoo.
In the canals, fish species of absolute value are found such as eel, sea bass, sole and various species of mullet.
Among the mammals, rodents and mustelids are found (rats, voles, porcupines, nutria, hares, hedgehogs, weasels, martens) and various reptiles such as the tortoise, snake, cervone, grass snake, green lizard, slow worm. Reason for special protection of the area (SPA) is the presence of many species of amphibians such as the tree frog, the lesser green frog, the green toad and the Triturus carnifex.
Among the animal species of the SIR there are:
Reptiles: (AII) Emys orbicularis (water turtle, Reptiles) – Presence to be reconfirmed in recent times. (AII) Testudo hermanni (Herman’s tortoise, Reptiles). (AII) Elaphe quatuorlineata (cervone, Reptiles).
Birds: (AI) Botaurus stellaris (bittern, birds) – In the past the main nesting area of the species in Italy, in continuous regression during the nineties and disappeared since 2001. (AI) Tadorna tadorna (shelduck, birds) – Winter visitor . (AI) Aythya nyroca (ferruginous duck, Birds) – Migratory, irregular winter visitor. (AI) Circus aeruginosus (marsh harrier, Birds) – Sedentary nesting (extremely reduced, due to recent environmental changes) (AI) Falco biarmicus (lanner, Birds) – Regular winter visitor. Clamator glandarius (crested cuckoo, Birds) – Breeder. (AI) Coracias garrulus (sea roller, Birds) – Breeder. Sylvia conspicillata (Sardinian brushwood, Birds) – Breeder, presumably irregular.
In the heart of the nature reserve, in the locality of Isola Clodia, are the remains of the Abbey of San Pancrazio al Fango of medieval origins.
Ximenes Red House Multimedia Museum
The multimedia museum of the Casa Rossa Ximenes is a museum that constitutes the visitor center of the Diaccia Botrona nature reserve, in the municipality of Castiglione della Pescaia (GR).
The cataract factory, then commonly known as Casa Rossa, is a characteristic building designed and built by the engineer and mathematician Leonardo Ximenes in 1765, during the reclamation works of the Grosseto Maremma, on behalf of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Peter Leopold of Lorraine. The complex had the task of controlling the flow of water between the vast marshy area of Lake Castiglione – the ancient Lake Prile – and the Tyrrhenian Sea, since it was thought that malaria was due to the miasma exhaled from the unhealthy mixing of swamp water with that of the sea.
Preserved in good condition even after the loss of its original functions, the Casa Rossa Ximenes was restored thanks to the interest of the Province of Grosseto and used as a reception center of the Diaccia Botrona nature reserve. In 2009, the multimedia museum was set up here by the Mizar company of the physicist Paco Lanciano. Since 2010, visits and educational activities have been managed on behalf of the Province of Grosseto by the Maremmagica company. On 24 May 2013, on the occasion of the European day of parks and protected areas, a large electronic panel was set up designed to tell the blind and visually impaired about biodiversity.
The museum is included in the provincial museum network Musei di Maremma.
Exhibition halls
The internal and external environments of the Red House are still present andpreserved, technological structures – closed, bulkheads and various gears – which, although no longer used, are still functional. Under the main body of the building there is the system of cataracts designed by Leonardo Ximenes to allow the flow of water to be controlled. On the two floors of the building, the multimedia museum allows visitors to get to know the flora and fauna of the nature reserve thanks to explanatory panels, as well as informing them about the history and formation of the marsh, and about the various activities that were practiced here: fishing, hunting and collection of wild plants.
Some of the traditional objects exhibited here are interesting, such as for example the fishermen’s nets: there are the pots, characterized by a funnel-shaped opening that allowed fish to be caught without allowing them To go out; there is the bertovello, a net intended for fishing for eels; there is the trammel net, a type of fixed gillnet. Among the objects for hunting we note the barrel, a fixed position trap, and the wooden ducks which were used as decoys.
A virtual shed has also been recreated in the museum, a place of observation where it is possible to recognize the birds that inhabit the marsh, and various plastic models they reproduce the various species of animals and illustrate the hydrogeological structure of the Diaccia Botrona nature reserve. Finally, we point out the presence of an electronic panel for the blind and visually impaired, which reproduces plants and animals in relief of the Diaccia Botrona, allowing for an initial knowledge of it: furthermore, by pressing with the electronic pen next to the individual components of the panel, a recording starts with all the information on the animal or plant examined; for the animals, the characteristic song or call they emit is also reproduced.
From the museum it is possible to book guided tours of the Diaccia Botrona nature reserve, with excursions on foot, by bicycle and by boat, and to carry out birdwatching activities. The structure is often used to host cultural events and initiatives, including naturalistic photography workshops, art and craft exhibitions, music reviews and theatrical.
