In 2002, the Valle del Ticino (Ticino Valley) as a whole – over both Piedmont and Lombardy - was recognized as a MAB Biosphere Reserve and became a full member of the WNBR World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
In 2018 the Reserve was extended and currently includes over 200 Municipalities covering more than 332,000 hectares of extension, of which around 18,000 hectares are classified as core areas, 51,000 hectares as buffer zones and 263,000 hectares as transition areas. The provinces involved are Novara, Milan, Pavia, Varese, Verbania.
The territory of the Mab Ticino Val Grande Verbano Reserve has a high level of biodiversity, thanks to its rich and varied mosaic of conservation devices made up of around twenty parks and reserves as well as a socio-economic fabric that is strongly interwoven with both the Milan metropolitan ambit and the agricultural system. The final objective to which the Reserve will aim in the coming years is that of creating an Italian-Swiss cross-border Reserve by including the territory around the Ticino River between the springs and entry to Lake Maggiore, also known as Upper Ticino, in Switzerland.
The two Parks included in the new Mab Reserve - the Val Grande National Park and the Campo dei Fiori Park - represent, together with those already recognized in the Valle del Ticino (Ticino Valley), the "core zones" and the "buffer zones", while the Municipalities newly involved in the extension will represent the transition area.
Official website: https://mabticinovalgrandeverbano.it/en-us/home
