The Po Delta biosphere reserve. [Photo/UNESCO]

The Po Delta biosphere reserve in northern Italy covers an area of 139,398 hectares and is home to 120,000 people living in 16 municipalities. The area is a plain produced by the Po River's action and recent human activity. It is the only delta in Italy. The site includes the confluence of river branches, coastal dune systems and sand formations, lagoons, fishing ponds, marshes, fossil dunes, canals and coastal pine forests, vast brackish wetlands and cultivated lands dominated by rice farming. These landscapes provide an exceptional heritage of biodiversity due to their range of habitats. Tourism is one of the main economic activities of the local communities, along with agriculture and fish farming. Sustainable tourism could be promoted. Environmental and cultural education aimed at the general public is an important activity of the biosphere reserve.