Green and water

Biodiversity, Lake Orta an example for other areas of Italy

How the aquatic repopulation of Lake Orta is taking place. The Cusio 2030 plan and activities to contain invasive species

by Davide Madeddu

7 April 2025

L’isola di San Giulio al centro del Lago d’Orta

3' min read

Key points

The Cusio 2030 plan
Aquatic restocking
Intervention monitoring

3' min read

The path towards the new life of Lake Orta has begun, under the banner of conserving, supporting and enhancing aquatic biodiversity. One year after the start of the interventions provided for in the 'Cusio 2030' project, there are already the first results, 'with the development of initiatives aimed at restoring and enhancing native aquatic biodiversity'.

The initiative, led by the Province of Novara, was launched together with the partners Ecomuseo del Lago d'Orta e Mottarone, the 'Amici del Fermi' association of Arona and the Irsa Water Research Institute (CNR) of Verbania.

The Cusio 2030 Plan

"Cusio 2030 continues the line already traced by the IttiOrta project, carried out between 2014 and 2018, financed by the Lake Orta Water State for the improvement of the ecological status of the lake through interventions on the fish fauna- says Giovanni De Bernardi, president of Ecomuseo del Lago d'Orta e Mottarone-. This is an important territorial pact that also involves the Piedmont Region and of which Ecomuseo is the animator, which has also brought other important results, such as the project to protect the lake's reed beds, the repositioning of the limnological buoy with the support of the Giacomini Foundation, and the biomonitoring using freshwater mussels for the Ris-Orta project'. +On the horizon is the conservation of the environment and the restoration of biodiversity 'before pollution in the ecosystem'.

Aquatic Repopulation

Among the various activities is the positioning (by lowering them with a helicopter) of woodpiles in the lake, in the locations of Bagnera di Orta, Punta Casa Rio, Spiaggia Miami and at the Lido di Gozzano, at a depth of about ten metres. These are huge piles of wood and branches that are intended to create a refuge area where fish can hide from predators and lay their eggs.

These wooden structures will be periodically reinforced to cope with natural deterioration and thus create fish nesting sites and refuges to be monitored for at least a decade. Repopulation operations have been carried out, with the introduction into the lake's waters of pike fry born and weaned in the CNR hatchery, as well as fertilised agon eggs.

Fertilised eggs and larvae of marble trout were also placed in the lake's tributaries.

Intervention monitoring

The monitoring of these interventions will continue during 2025 and in the spring of 2026. "The activities carried out have made it possible to expand the framework of knowledge on the Lake Orta ecosystem, as well as to develop interventions based on a scientific approach, aimed at increasing theaquatic biodiversity of these environments," explains Pietro Volta of Irsa (CNR). The introduced fish species were first genetically analysed so as to exclude the presence of hybrids or non-native forms. The alien species removal activities were based on standardised protocols at a European level, so as to guarantee not only the success of the operations but also the possibility of bringing the results of these interventions to international tables, enhancing what has been done on a local scale'.

Another activity under development is the containment of invasive alien species through studies and removal of specimens. This will be complemented by environmental education activities with local schools during the three-year period 2024-2026.

"We have structured a four-year educational plan with the educational action 'AmbientiAmo la Scuola' to bring Cusio 2030 into schools," says Marco De Nigris, contact person for the Ambientiamo La Scuola (Friends of Fermi) action. We involved young professionals from the area and high and primary schools between Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta'. A further monitoring activity was carried out on the Louisiana crayfish, an alien and invasive species that has particularly developed in Lake Orta due to the absence of native animals capable of hunting and fighting it.