Home » Living the Park » Visitor centres

The Airone

"Airone" Centre for Environmental Education | Cervara Nature Reserve | "La Porta dell'Acqua" Visitor Centre |

"Airone" Centre
Via Raffaello, 12 - 30020 Portegrandi (VE) - Capitanio Bruno - Tel. +39-0422-6789041

Municipality of Quarto d'Altino, Portegrandi, Social Centre/ Via Marconi, Trepalade
Management Body: Associazione Ornitologica Basso Piave - NPO
Managers: Bruno Capitanio, Leopoldo Trevisan

Information
Secretariat: Tel. and Fax +39-0422-829009
Home: Tel. and Fax +39-0422-789041 - Mobile +39-339-5942089
E-mail: verdone@oasitrepalade.com
Website: www.oasitrepalade.com

The Centre has two rooms, a classroom and a large exhibition room. The classroom can be used to present the river environment (River Sile) and lagoon environment (Venice lagoon) through multimedia aids. The large exhibition room has display cases containing examples of the wildlife (birds, reptiles etc.) found in the area, display panels and posters describing the various types of habitat occurring locally and a number of themes associated with the breeding and care, protection and conservation of local, migratory and also exotic birds.

Nature Reserve: the Municipality of Quarto d'Altino owns a piece of land at Trepalade along the River Sile, for the last few years protected by environmental restrictions and therefore safe from man's destructive actions.  The vegetation has therefore grown wild and luxuriant, covering the sides of the old quarries and transforming the area into one of the last surviving fragments of the Veneto countryside of times past, before intensive farming was invented.

The presence of the Sile and the river bank vegetation, a poplar wood with natural undergrowth, a reed bed, water lilies and the young "Bosco dei Nati" have all helped create a small but important typical environment where small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds now absent from the surrounding areas can live and breed in complete safety. It might appear just a corner of countryside abandoned to its fate, but the trees, bushes, reed bed and aquatic areas in fact represent a complex and fascinating environment.

Educational objectives

• To promote knowledge of local geography, history and nature;
• To develop the ability to listen to, observe and interpret nature's various forms of expression (sounds, lights, birdsong, images) and to understand the diversity present in the ecosystem; 
• To give participants the concrete possibility of observing and learning about the flora and fauna present, including with the help of explanatory panels and fixed observation points; 
• To express and compare individual attitudes and capacities for the exploration and interpretation of certain specific aspects of the natural environment. To educate participants in the rules for safeguarding all aspects of the environment, heightening their awareness of the need for respect; 
• In the Reserve: to provide participants with first hand experience of the notions seen and heard at the "Airone" visitor centre.

Through the presence of aviaries, participants can "discreetly" observe the various phases in the life of the birds - courtship, nest building, rearing and weaning the young and learning to fly. The birds present can be recognised through their song and with the help of monographic sheets at the entrance to each sector. Other sheets are distributed along the trail to recognise the most common tree species present.

Target

• Nursery and primary school 1st cycle: developing the five senses, comparison of the ways of life of other life forms.
• Primary school 2nd cycle and middle school: the importance of the role of the individual in relation to the ecosystem in general. Understanding of the various complex natural phenomena. 
• Secondary school: understanding of more extensive phenomena, the relationships of the organisms with other organisms, with abiotic factors and with man. Safeguarding and conservation of natural aspects of the environment, now an exhaustible resource. 
• In general to individuals, groups or associations of those interested in the environment, ornithology and open air life.

Availability
The Centre is available for use all year round following booking.
The Reserve is available all year round, weather conditions permitting.

Duration of visits
An average of one and a half hours, plus a further 2 hours for the visit to the Trepalade Reserve. Visit to the Portegrandi Basin, a further 30 minutes.

Costs
€30.00/€40.00 for a group (maximum 30), to cover the costs of the nature guides. €20.00 per person for the visit to the Reserve and "Airone" Environmental Educational Centre at Portegrandi, including guide.

Additional services
Videorama, video recorder, slide projector, reception room, toilets, conference room, exhibition room. Outside courtyard with facilities for picnics and snacks.  Coach parking. Subsidised lunches. Small shop. Guide (paid service).
In the Reserve: drinking water. Picnic lunch. Coach parking. Two brochures + two descriptive leaflets. Guide (paid service). Subsidised lunches. Small shop.