Data Zone
Country/territory: Italy
IBA criteria met: A4i, B1i, B2, C2, C6 (2002)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 30,912 hectares (309.12 km2)
Site description (2000 baseline)
A complex of heronries on the western Padana plain, isolated from each other and situated mainly inside small broadleaved woodlands surrounded by cultivated land, especially rice-fields. The main land-uses are nature conservation and agriculture. `Water management' is linked to rice-fields.
Key biodiversity
There are 12 main heronries: Abbazia Acqualunga, Bosco Basso, Carola, Cascina Notizia, Cascina Villarasca, Celpenchio, Porta Chiossa, Rinalda, Roggia Torbida, Sant'Alessandro, Verminesca, and Villa Biscossi. The site holds internationally important numbers of breeding Nycticorax nycticorax (second-largest breeding colony in Europe) and Egretta garzetta. The average total number of breeding herons exceeds 20,000 birds.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lomellina and Heronries of Pavia province (Italy). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lomellina-and-heronries-of-pavia-province-iba-italy on 23/12/2024.