Italiano
The Mediterranean Habitat Oasis is located on the Tiber mouth, near Ostia’s seaplane base. It is a naturalistic oasis of 20 hectares, on what was previously an open air dump, only famous for being the place where Pier Paolo Pasolini was killed and the set of the related film “Ugly, dirty and bad”.
Is was designed as an alternative to the devastated environment which would have destroyed the mouth of the Tiber river. After a very long and tiring battle in the 90s, LIPU (Italian Association for Bird Protection), this project came to life. It was supported by 7.000 citizens and after some time it was also integrated by the Public Administration, by the new Marina of Rome. Now it carries out a mitigation function and is an environmental compensation.
Today it includes a successful environmental reconstruction of a coastal pond in which over 200 species of different birds have been listed.
Among them we can find some very rare nesting species like the red heron. They live in a lush water vegetation where they can shelter or a scrub area; they can be easily be observed together with some little grebes, bitterns, crakes, march harriers, knights of Italy and various ducks, wadres and the rare ferriginous ducks.
A nature path allows visitors to reach the bird-watching huts, photographic huts, the butterfly garden and a WW2 bunker. An open air educational space and the Mario Pastore Centre often host cultural, environmental, integration, research events, together with the volunteers of the LIPU group in Ostia (who also rescue and transfer to the LIPU center in Roma some injured birds), attract thousands of people every year.
Information
You can visit the centre every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm (passing through the Visiting Centre in the parking of the Marina, in via dell’Idroscalo) and taking part in the numerous events organized every weekend. Groups, school groups, photographers and birdwatchers can enter every day, sending an email to chm.ostia@lipu.it
