Italian Northern Adriatic

Why this site?

The Northern Adriatic is an ideal location for a project aimed at enhancing the marine conservation network due to its remarkable biodiversity, unique ecological characteristics, and variety of habitats. This area is one of the most productive and biologically rich in the Mediterranean, hosting numerous marine species of significant commercial and ecological value. However, the ecosystem is under pressure from human activities, such as intensive fishing, shipping, tourism, coastal development and climate change, making an integrated management approach urgent.

Trezze San Pietro e Bardelli, represents one of the biggest Natura 2000 sites in the region and it protects 2 habitats, and 5 species protected under the Habitat and Bird Directives, although its importance extends to other species of ecosystem importance (e.g. some species of sharks).

This important site lacks an implemented management plan. Moreover, the Italian MSP plan considered the potential extent of this site. Hence, it is fundamental to work, together with the coastal community, to establish a set of rules and improve its governance to enhance its biodiversity. The results can be used to scale up the chosen approach for this case study to other marine areas in the region and beyond.

Ecosystem characteristics

The Northern Adriatic ecosystem is rich in biodiversity and unique habitats, including lagoons, estuaries, seagrass meadows, and sandy and muddy seabeds. Key sites like the Venice and Marano and Grado lagoons provide essential shelter and feeding grounds for diverse species of fish, crustaceans, and migratory birds. The area’s shallow waters and wide continental shelf support a nutrient-rich environment, fostering phytoplankton and zooplankton growth at the base of the food chain.

Unique rocky structures, called tegnùe (mainly in Veneto) and trezze (in Friuli-Venezia Giulia), further enhance biodiversity, acting as natural reefs as they support sponges, corals, and fish by providing essential shelter and breeding grounds. These biologically rich outcrops are home to fish and invertebrates rarely found in the Northern Adriatic, playing a crucial role in the ecosystem’s balance.

The Natura 2000 site ‘Trezze San Pietro e Bardelli’ was established to protect 5 species (Caretta caretta, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus, Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii, Puffinus yelkouan, Tursiops truncatus) and 2 habitats (habitats 1170 and 1110) under the Habitat and Bird Directives.

The “trezze” are biodiversity hotspots, providing complex habitats rich in microenvironments compared to the surrounding seabeds, predominantly muddy and sandy. These rocky outcrops qualify as “reef” habitats under the EU Habitats Directive, featuring coralligenous bioconstructions, including calcareous algae (Lithophyllum, Peyssonnelia), coral species (Cladocora, Astroides), and other builders.

Biodiversity varies with surrounding substrates (muds, fine and coarse sands) and includes typical maërl elements noted in the Action Plan for the Conservation of Coralligenous Habitats. These areas’ structural complexity and hydrological features create essential habitats for marine species, including rare phytobenthic organisms and demersal and pelagic fish. Specifically, the outcrops are vital breeding sites for sharks such as the blue shark (Prionace glauca), nursehound (Scyliorhinus stellaris), lesser spotted dogfish (S. canicula), and smooth-hound (Mustelus mustelus).

The environmental value and biodiversity of the trezze attract scientific attention and stakeholders like divers and fishers but face threats from anthropogenic pressures, including destructive fishing practices and declining water quality due to nearby rivers and lagoons. Therefore, it is fundamental to establish and implement together with the stakeholders, a management plan to improve the governance and enhance its biodiversity.

Challenges

Lack of a management plan
Lack of a co-management table that put together key stakeholders
Distance from the coast and related management of the Natura 2000 site Trezze San Pietro e Bardelli and control difficulties.

What will be demonstrated?

Stakeholders consultation and involvement, at all stages of the project, is not only needed but essential to implement maritime spatial management plans that aim to improve the environmental, social and economic context.

Activities to be
carried out

Creation of a co-management table (LSWG, Local Stakeholders Working Group) for the Natura 2000 site ‘Trezze San Pietro e Bardelli’;
Establishment and implementation of the management plan for the Natura 2000 site ‘Trezze San Pietro e Bardelli'”

Contact person

Andrea Zanella

WWF Italy