Ca’ Roman Natural Reserve

It is a place cut off from the world, where you can stay in the only baretto in the area or in the seaside village that acts as a guesthouse, but it is above all a natural oasis of extraordinary variety. As took place in the Alberoni, here too the construction of a breakwater in the early twentieth century has changed the conformation of the area, allowing large amounts of sand to accumulate on the beach and creating a dune system that is still perfectly intact today and in continuous expansion. Indeed, in recent years, the coast has advanced by about 11 metres.

The isolation of Ca’ Roman has allowed the system to remain intact and for it to become the perfect habitat for many species of birds, which use it as a stopover during migrations. For this reason, in the late 1980s, the area became an oasis of wildlife protection and, in the last census, LIPU [Italian league for the protection of birds] identified 190 species of birds here.

The two most important species – and the main reason why the protected area was established – are the Kentish plover and the little tern. The Kentish plover is a small wading bird that nests directly on the dunes and lives in balance with the little tern, which, for its part, is a kind of “guardian” that limits the predation of the Kentish plover’s nests and chicks. While these species are breeding – a very delicate point in time due to the exposed nature of their nesting area – LIPU volunteers watch over the nests, protecting them with special nets.

Among the sedentary species, in Ca’ Roman we meet seagulls, kingfishers, scops owls, night hawks and European bee-eaters. In winter, several types of birds of prey fly over the area, including sparrowhawks, the peregrine falcon and the marsh falcon.

To visit Ca’ Roman and discover its fauna, LIPU organises boat trips in mid-May and early October.

Contacts of Lipu Venezia:

[email protected]
+39 340 6192175