Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
Palude Brabbia is a fen peatland located at the foot of the pre-Alps, west of the town of Varese. The area includes open water, marsh vegetation (mainly
Phragmites and
Carex), humid meadows and wet woodlands, and it is fed by the Brabbia Canal which links it to two lakes. One of them is Lago di Varese, a medium-sized freshwater lake surrounded by a fringe of reedbed. The main land-uses are nature conservation in Palude Brabbia, and tourism and hunting in Lago di Varese.
An important site for breeding
Aythya nyroca, herons (including a mixed heronry of
Nycticorax nycticorax and
Ardea cinerea) and reedbed passerines, and for foraging raptors. Numbers are based on regular counts during 1987-1996, apart from breeding herons which started to colonize the area in 1993.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
At present the main threats are reedbed-burning, disturbance to birds, and water pollution from domestic and industrial sources. Palude Brabbia is a LIPU reserve and is covered by a management plan.
National Partial
International High128 ha of IBA covered by Regional Nature Reserve (Lago di Biandronno, 128 ha). 459 ha of IBA covered by Regional Nature Reserve (Palude Brabbia, 459 ha). 1,889 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Valli del Mincio, Paludi di Ostiglia, Torbiere d'Iseo, 1,889 ha). 459 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Palude Brabbia, 459 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Brabbia peatland, Lake Varese and Lake Biandronno (Italy). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/brabbia-peatland-lake-varese-and-lake-biandronno-iba-italy on 22/12/2024.
