Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A freshwater eutrophic lake, about 10 km west of the town of Perugia. It is the largest lake in central Italy (12,000 ha) and the fourth-largest in the country. There is a belt of reeds
Phragmites, of variable width, all around the lakeshore, and submerged beds of waterweed (
Potamogeton,
Ceratophyllum) offshore. Wet woodlands (
Salix,
Alnus,
Ulmus) and grasslands are also present. Tourism is the main activity; pig-farming and intensive agriculture dominate the surrounding area.
An area of international importance for wintering
Phalacrocorax carbo and other waterbirds collectively (more than 20,000 occur on a regular basis, mainly
Fulica atra) and for the presence of a mixed heronry. Winter count data refer to January 1993, 1994 and 1996. The number of wintering birds has greatly increased (especially
Fulica atra) following the declaration of the Regional Park in 1995 and the lowering of water-levels.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threats are: the pollution of the wetland by nutrients and pesticides from the surrounding agricultural areas; the reduction in reedbed extent due to erosion; the creation of new beaches; the creation of new arable land; fires in the reedbeds; coypu
Myocastor coypus, a non-native aquatic rodent, has dramatically reduced the extent of floating water-lilies
Nymphaea; extraction of water for agriculture. Some or all of the site is covered by a management plan. Research is carried out on hydrobiology (Università di Perugia), botany (Università di Perugia, Università di Camerino) and ornithology (Provincia di Perugia).
National High
International None13,200 ha of IBA covered by Regional Nature Park (Trasimeno, 13,200 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lake Trasimeno (Italy). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lake-trasimeno-iba-italy on 22/11/2024.
