The Gesso and Stura river park protects 5,500 hectares along the river Stura di Demonte and the Gesso torrent: river, plain and mountain environments held together as an ecological corridor between the two altitudes. Centallo has belonged to it since 2011, when a regional law widened the park to nine municipalities besides Cuneo, and the fit is logical: the Stura marks the eastern boundary of Centallo's territory.
What to see
The most interesting group of wildlife is the birds, with 218 recorded species. Among the most significant are the bee-eater, the great white egret, the osprey, the short-toed eagle, the little grebe, the hoopoe and the little ringed plover: a list that explains why people who come here with binoculars come back. There are twenty-five species of mammals, and fourteen of those are bats, from Geoffroy's bat to the common pipistrelle, from the serotine to Leisler's bat. Then there are nine species of amphibians, among them the fire salamander and the crested newt, and various reptiles, from the green lizard to the grass snakes.
Visiting
The park is equipped to be travelled through: the cycle paths embrace Cuneo along the two watercourses and extend into the surrounding municipalities, and the authority runs nature treks, guided visits in the city and in the member territories, temporary exhibitions, workshops, courses and conferences. The teaching side is the one most worked on, from nursery schools to secondary schools but also with adults and families, on themes ranging from respect for nature to sustainable development and climate change.
Our editors' tip
The story of this park is worth as much as the park itself. It was not born of a law handed down from above: from 1979 citizens and associations in Cuneo pressed the council to make the rivers somewhere to go again, and it took almost thirty years. In 1986 a first nature park appeared on the master plan, in 2007 the Region established the park proper, and in 2019 a new law brought it to fourteen municipalities and changed its name to natural park, though everyone goes on calling it the river park. From the Centallo side you reach the Stura: it is the least frequented stretch and for that reason the best for watching birds.