The high altitude biotope born from an ancient lake. Ecken's biotope

​It’s the remains of an ancient lake and is therefore subject to special forms of protection. Biotopes, in fact, are protected natural oases chosen for their peculiar naturalistic characteristics. And it’s the only one located above 1,000 meters. An educational path equipped with illustrative tables allows for guided observation of the environment.

Welcome to the Ecken Nature Reserve .
The “Echen Peat Bog” is a wetland of particular scientific value as it is a very rare example of a peat deposit in a karst environment: the substrate is in fact made up of calcareous rocks covered by moraine deposits. The wetland is located at about 1260 m a.s.l. and occupies a surface area of about 4 hectares: it is colonized by numerous
plant associations, mostly sedge beds. In the middle of the peat bog there is a body of water whose level varies throughout the year in relation to rainfall. The body of water has also undergone considerable variations in the past: the study of the stratification of peat deposits makes it possible to reconstruct the temporal succession of the different types of vegetation.