The river of the same name is 248 km long, from Passo di Novina, Switzerland, to the confluence of the Po River.
In the area covered by the park, from Sesto Calende (VA) to Ponte della Becca (PV), its length is 110 km.
In 2002, the Ticino Valley as a whole was awarded the Biosphere Reserve in the context of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Program (MAB). After the initial expansion recognized in 2014, in July 2018, the Ticino Valle Grande Verbano Reserve was designated as an additional extension of the Ticino Valley Reserve to the Swiss border.
The Lombard park in the Ticino valley is about 91,800 hectares, of which about 20,500 are protected by a natural park.The entire administrative territory of the 47 municipalities of Lombardy is located along the Ticino River between Lake Maggiore and the Po River, in the provinces of Varese, Milan and Pavia. (Map frame)
The Ticino Piemontese Park (now listed at the Institute of Protected Areas Management in Ticino and Lake Maggiore), established in 1978, covers an area of 6,561 hectares in the Natural Park including part of the territory of eleven municipalities in Novara Province: Castelletto above Ticino, Varallo Pombia, Pombia, Marano, Oleggio, Bellinzago, Cameri, Galliate, Romentino, Trecate and Cerano (www.parcoticinolagomaggiore.it).
The territory of Ticino Park occupies about 55% of agricultural areas, 22% of forests, 20% of urban areas and 3% hydrographic network.
The existence of a rich and diverse set of ecosystems, in many cases well preserved, means that the park has a heritage of biodiversity unparalleled in the Po Valley:
Living species studied so far: 6.235
Animal Kingdom: 3.264
Plant Kingdom: 1.585
Mushroom Kingdom: 1.386.
This allowed the park to identify up to 14 Special Protected Areas (SACs) and one Special Protection Area (SPA) as directed by habitats and birds (Natura 2000 Network)
The park territory is exceeded by more than 750 km of pedestrian paths, of which more than 100 km along the canals.
Ticino Park is part of the general plan for protected areas of natural and environmental significance, created under Regional Law 86/1983.
Under the Regional Act of 17 November 2016, n.28 “Reorganization of the Lombard Regional Protected Area Management and Protection System and other forms of protection in the Region”, starting with the current Protected Area System, initiated a process for the current reorganization of the Regional Protected Area Management System.
