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The site was identified as important in 2002 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List1	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia	LC	breeding	1999	46 breeding pairs	C2, C6
Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax	LC	breeding	1995	455-730 breeding pairs	A4i, B1i, B2, C2, C6
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea	LC	breeding	1995	100-300 breeding pairs	C2, C6
Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola	LC	breeding	2000	25 breeding pairs	C6
Slender-billed Gull Larus genei	LC	breeding	1997-1999	26-72 breeding pairs	C2, C6
Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus	LC	resident	1997-1999	343-893 breeding pairs	C2, C6
Little Tern Sternula albifrons	LC	breeding	1995	178-1,773 breeding pairs	C2, C6
Common Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica	LC	breeding	1997-1999	40-100 breeding pairs	C6
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis	LC	breeding	1997-1999	22-427 breeding pairs	C6
Moustached Warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon	LC	resident	1996	10-20 breeding pairs	C6
Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana	LC	breeding	1996	50-100 breeding pairs	C6

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2002) may differ.

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1972	Riserva naturale Sacca di Bellocchio	Riserva Naturale Statale	<1
1972	Sacca di Bellocchio (I)	Nature Reserve	<1
1976	Sacca di Belócchio	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	1
1979	Riserva naturale Sacca di Bellocchio II	Riserva Naturale Statale	<1
1979	Sacca di Bellocchio (II)	Nature Reserve	<1
1980	Riserva naturale Destra foce Fiume Reno	Riserva Naturale Statale	<1
1981	Valli residue del comprensorio di Comacchio	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	40
1981	Riserva naturale Sacca di Bellocchio III	Riserva Naturale Statale	<1
1981	Riserva naturale Foce Fiume Reno	Riserva Naturale Statale	<1
1981	Sacca di Bellocchio (III)	Nature Reserve	<1
1988	Valle del Mezzano	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	52
1988	Parco regionale Delta del Po (ER)	Parco naturale regionale/provinciale	19
1988	Delta del Po	Regional Nature Park	40
1995	Valli di Comacchio	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	40
1995	Vene di Bellocchio; Sacca di Bellocchio, Foce del Fiume Reno, Pineta di Bellocchio	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	6
2004	Valli di Comacchio	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	41
2006	Vene di Bellocchio; Sacca di Bellocchio, Foce del Fiume Reno, Pineta di Bellocchio	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	6

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land, Urban parks and gardens	45
Forest	Alluvial and very wet forest	5
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		major (>10)
Marine Intertidal		major (>10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
hunting	50
nature conservation and research	50
agriculture	40
fisheries/aquaculture	40
tourism/recreation	20
water management	10
military	5
urban/industrial/transport	5

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Valli di Comacchio and Bonifica del Mezzano (Italy). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/valli-di-comacchio-and-bonifica-del-mezzano-iba-italy on 23/11/2024.