Webcam Sentina Nature Reserve
The Sentina Nature Reserve, created in 2004, is the smallest and one of the youngest protected areas of the Marche region. It is located within the municipality of San Benedetto del Tronto between the urban area of Porto d'Ascoli in the north and the Tronto River in the south.
The total area of the reserve is about 180 hectares.
For about 1.7 km the territory of the Sentina north of the mouth of the Tronto River consists of sand dunes, between which there are tiny "patches" of wetlands and overgrown salt marshes. Today, these ecosystems are among the rarest on the Adriatic coast. And according to historical documents, there used to be a lake here, which gradually disappeared due to urbanization and the subsequent drainage of the land.
The flora of Sentina is typical of the Marche region in general and the central and southern Adriatic in particular. But it is particularly important as a stopping point for numerous migratory bird species on their way from the Gargano Peninsula to the Po wetlands. It is for this reason that the reserve has been designated a special protected area. A total of 143 bird species, 14 mammal species, 5 reptile species and 6 fish species have been recorded here. The logo of Sentina shows the most widespread species in the territory of the reserve - the stilt-necked bird and the soleros, which is typical of wet salty dunes.
The Sentina is also important from a historical and archaeological point of view, since there are traces of the presence of some ancient civilizations that inhabited the mouth of the river Tronto in pre-Roman times. Among the more modern monuments, the Torre sul Porto, a tower built in 1543 to protect against the raids of sea pirates, is worthy of attention.
