Badlands are erosions of rock and soil that often characterize the landscape of some regions. In fact, in Italy there are postcard places where these furrows in the soil, which sometimes run along hills and mountains, are known. In some cases a sort of remediation has been carried out, but in others these picturesque lunar-style landslides are still visible.
Italy is a varied and vast territory, where even the gullies They are part of the landscape, which in their presence often takes on a lunar aspect. In fact, there are regions where these furrows in the ground have become known and call together enthusiasts of this phenomenon. In fact, they are erosions of the ground that give an artistic form to places.
The style resembles that of canyons, with the sides of mountains and hills often characterized by these veins, resulting from erosion by rainwater. Clay rocks, due to rainfall, tend to erode over the centuries.
The result is this geomorphological work of art, which are precisely the gullies, which sometimes extend into dense and beautiful ramifications. An interesting fact is that the gullies vegetation is different from others. In fact, not all plants can resist the sodium concentration of these soils.
But the species that adapt to these conditions make the badlands landscape even more spectacular, often immortalized in tourist photos. If we want to see these erosions of nature in person, there are, as mentioned, regions where the phenomenon is best expressed.
Italy of the badlands: the regions where to see them
There are regions in Italy where the existing terrain has favored the formation of gullies and they are: Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Basilicata, Sicily and Calabria. In the province of Matera, for example, we find the Regional Reserve of the Montalbano Jonico Badlands and those of Aliano, where trekking tours are organised to admire the landscape.
But in Tuscany the gullies of the Crete Senesi are equally well known, where these furrows alternate with the so-called biancane, white rocky reliefs, typical of the place. In the Emilian areas the lunar landscape of the gullies is found in the Regional Park of Gessi Bolognesi and Calanchi dell’Abbadessa.
This is a rural area at the foot of the Bolognese hills, where chalky rocks emerge and on which the erosive phenomenon has done its artistic work. But the art of Mother Nature is also noticeable in Sicily, where the Cannizzola gullies, also known colloquially as desert of the badlandsare one of the sites of interest between Enna and Catania.
But still in the South, this time in Calabria, we find the Calanchi bianchi di Palizzi, which locals and tourists define as one of the most suggestive lunar landscapes of the peninsula. The colors are in fact white, which comes from the calcareous residues left by the shells of small organisms millions of years ago, but also greenish, gray and light blue.
These are deposits of clay and other minerals, which have made this natural canvas more unique than rare, so much so that it is an ecotourism destination. But another place where you can admire these picturesque erosions should also be mentioned. It is Abruzzo, where there is the Regional Natural Reserve WWF Oasis Calanchi di Atriwhich some call the Dantean Bolge.
If we want to visit these different and more barren landscapes compared to the green territories of our nation, the destinations are now known to us. All we have to do is put on our backpacks and, respecting the flora and fauna, see these original canyons, the result of the work of the waters over the centuries.
Sources
Source: www.greenstyle.it
