Oasi Zegna
The Oasi Zegna is a nature reserve in the province of Biella , Piedmont . Its roots go back to the 1930s, when the entrepreneur Ermenegildo Zegna, founder of the Zegna Group , set up his company named after him in Trivero (in the Bielle Prealps) to bring his place of birth back to life.
In addition to the construction of apartments for the employees and a center for the health, training, sport and leisure of its fellow citizens, the project included the reforestation of the mountain slopes with 500,000 plants (conifers, rhododendrons and hydrangeas) as well as the construction of a panoramic road, the "Panoramica Zegna ”(which is still called that way), where the local population and tourists should enjoy the natural mountain environment.
Laboratory en plein air
On the basis of this wealth of ideas and concrete implementations, the new Zegna generations took over the legacy they left behind and launched the Oasi Zegna project in 1993, which affects an extensive mountain area of around 100 km² around the first 26 km of the panoramic road. As the first Italian example of environmental patronage, the Oasi Zegna pursues the goal of protecting and enhancing the area and communicating with visitors via an innovative system of signs consisting of a "visual alphabet" that describes animals, plants and minerals that are in the oasis and explain the local history in order to provide visitors with additional knowledge and a respectful relationship with nature.
The project of the Oasi Zegna as a communicating environment has developed on two closely related levels: the direct contact with nature (ecological sports and soft tourism) and the promotion of environmental education thanks to the activity of the scientific committee of the oasis, chaired by the behaviorist Giorgio Celli led until his death, and the collaboration a. a. with the Museum of Natural History in Milan, with which a series of popular science guides have been realized.
Due to the special natural design of the site and the considerable equipment with eco-compatible infrastructures, the Oasi Zegna is suitable as an open-air laboratory and place where you can pursue a range of leisure and sports activities all year round: hiking , high-mountain trekking , mountain biking , horse riding, climbing garden, Adventure trails in the trees (treeclimbing), flying kites and winter sports - all while preserving the ecosystems. There are numerous accommodation facilities such as hotels, restaurants and agrotourism establishments that offer the food and hospitality typical of mountain tradition.
The Scientific Committee
The Oasi Zegna project has set itself the goal of environmental education and bringing young people closer to nature .
The Oasi Zegna has a strong international commitment and cooperates with organizations and initiatives that work in the same spirit. As early as 1993, the Oasi Zegna in Europe created Alp Action, an organization that aims to motivate companies to actively take care of the Alps and to develop specific projects to restore the environment.
Oasi Zegna has also signed cooperation agreements with organizations that have proven to care about the future of our planet, such as TEMA, a Turkish organization to combat desertification, such as WWF in China and in the USA RFA (Rain Forest Alliance), MGF (Moanalua Garden Foundation), AOC (American Ocean Campaign) and EMA (Environmental Media Association).
In cooperation with EMA, the Oasi Zegna honored well-known personalities from the world of entertainment, such as Sting and Trudi Styler, John Travolta , Ted Danson and Olivia Newton-John for their ecological commitment. In 2001, the Oasi Zegna, together with the AOC, honored former US President Bill Clinton for his numerous environmental protection measures, while it received numerous international recognitions during its ten years of service.
The cooperation relationship with the Italian environmental fund FAI - Fondo Ambiente Italiano and the Museum of Natural History in Milan is particularly important .
Ecomuseum and other interesting places
The Oasi Zegna is part of the Ecomuseo del Biellese (Ecomuseum of the Biella area) together with the ecomuseal cells of the various local communities that transmit the folk culture of the territory to enhance cohesion and development between people. With this in mind, the cell formed by the oasi focuses on maintaining and emphasizing the traditions related to life in the mountains (e.g. beekeeping) and on the alpine pastures (as happens specifically in Moncerchio and Margosio).
Other interesting places are:
- Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Brughiera in the municipality of Trivero ;
- Museum house, eco-museum cell, the theme of which is the old dwellings of the Biella area in the municipality of Rosazza ;
- Arbo Park in Riabella ( San Paolo Cervo district ) with centuries-old examples of chestnut trees , the local heritage, to which an exhibition is dedicated;
- Wheel factory in the municipality of Pray , one of the best examples of industrial archeology in Italy; it is part of the Biella area ecomuseum;
- The Moncerchio alpine pasture in Bielmonte, accessible via paths 9 and 14 of the Oasi, with the possibility of witnessing the processing of milk and its by-products, in particular the production of the local Toma cheese and the Macagno cheese typical of the Biella area (also Maccagno);
- Bonda district in the municipality of Mezzana Mortigliengo , where the fronts of the houses were frescoed by contemporary artists .
Publishing activity
The publishing activity that accompanies the life of the Oasi Zegna is also important. In particular, it relates to the publication of systematic scientific studies and research, especially on local biodiversity , which are carried out on site and summarized in a series of popular science guides. Neither are the purely gastronomic , sporting or tourist aspects neglected to which recipe books, manuals and topographical maps are dedicated.
The Bielmonte ski area
The Oasi Zegna also includes the Bielmonte ski area, the most important ski resort in the Biella province . The creation of a ski resort that combines outdoor activity with a passion for the mountains was an important part of Ermenegildo Zegna's project. The area determined for this corresponded to the locality then known as Alpe Marca di Piatto . The first facility, the single-seat ski lift to Monte Marca, was inaugurated in January 1957. In the years that followed, various tow lifts were built that expanded the ski area. In 1976 Bielmonte was the second ski resort in Piedmont to introduce artificial snow on its slopes. In 1978 the “Rolba Run” summer toboggan run was inaugurated.
Today Bielmonte has 5 chair lifts, 2 drag lifts and 1 conveyor belt for 14 slopes, which are suitable for all skiers. In 2003 the lighting system was put back into operation, so that on a few days it is possible to ski in the evenings and at night on the “Piazzale” and “Moncerchio-Piazzale” slopes. Among the facilities, the Monte Marca chairlift mainly serves the Rolba Run summer toboggan run, while it mainly serves as a connection for skiers. The skiers have 4 ski lifts and 2 drag lifts as well as a conveyor belt for beginners. The “Piazzale” and “Montecerchio” lifts actually form a single ski lift that runs over the two slopes of Monte Cerchio, but they represent two separate lifts for skiers.
Valle Séssera , in the heart of the Oasi Zegna
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Individual evidence
Web links
Coordinates: 45 ° 39 ′ 44.6 ″ N , 8 ° 5 ′ 6 ″ E