Pat Lifeten

Issue:wet woods are definitely becoming rare habitats in the region of Trentino as the result of reclamations carried out in the past and aimed to obtain suitable grounds for harvesting and to redirect the rivers’ tracks. Trees and bushes along streams are usually eliminated in order to avoid the potential slowing down of the water flow and the stuck of wood stumps in the event of river overflow.

Habitat:The so called “wet woods” grow along the hedges of lakes, puddles and swamps. Willow trees (Salix spp.), alders (Alnus spp.) and poplars (Populus spp.) are the main tree species that populate these areas. Wet woods are the shelters for important animals and trees to be safeguarded, both at a local and a communitarian level, such as Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus).

What LIFE+ T.E.N. will do: the intervention by T.E.N. is expected to be carried out on a double level. In the wet woods within the NATURA 2000 areas of high Valsugana Valley, the same ones of action C.8, many interventions for the improving of their flowery composition will be carried out through the containment of conifers and other “foreign” species [Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima)], the plant of several specimens of French oaks (Quercus robur) or species that used to be present in the areas at the hedges of wet woods, and their progressive conversion into woodlands.

In the area of La Rocchetta, in the lower Val di Non valley, the guidelines for the management of wet woods and of the vegetation along the river bed will be tested, those guidelines will be carried out also with Action A.7

Expected results:

• Containment of tree species not belonging to wet woods;
•  Harvesting on breeding grounds and following planting of French oaks as part of the recovery actions of wet woods and downstream woods in bad conservative conditions;
• Demonstrative action of good actions to be carried out to manage wet woods along the track of a stream, with particular attention to be made on the necessity to combine the habitat’s conservation with the needs of hydraulic security.