Riserva Naturale Torbiere del Sebino

The Torbiere del Sebino are a wetland landscape of open water, reedbeds, small woods and meadows near Lake Iseo. Former peat workings helped create the flooded basins that now support a rich mosaic of habitats.

Why it matters

The wetland provides food and refuge for migratory birds within a heavily developed surrounding landscape. Its ecological value is inseparable from a history of human work that radically altered the former marshes.

What to notice

The Lamette communicate directly with Lake Iseo, while the inland Lame receive water from springs, rainfall and the small Ri stream. Embankments and regular basin shapes preserve traces of peat extraction alongside the less ordered forms of reeds and woodland.

Context and history

Intensive peat cutting expanded in the later nineteenth century. Workers extracted the material by hand with a long-handled tool called the luccio, then dried it for use as industrial fuel. Extraction ceased around the 1950s. Regional nature-reserve designation followed in 1984, protecting a landscape shaped by both natural processes and industry.