Coastal dunes are an increasingly rare environmental heritage that must be preserved. In Lignano Sabbiadoro, only a few remnants of the original landscape survive, represented by the pine forest and the seafront dunes. One of these areas is maintained by the company Società Imprese Lignano – S.I.L. S.p.A., where you can currently admire a stretch of herbaceous orchids.
S.I.L. has undertaken in recent years a conservation effort focused on the seafront dunes and the environmental restoration of the ancient dune ridges in Lignano Riviera. The interventions, designed and supervised by the environmental biology firm Candolini, and under the oversight of the Forestry Inspectorate, aim on one hand to contain the erosive action that threatens the stability of the existing dunes, and on the other to restore the vegetation of both the dunes and the backdune forest, where some rare species of herbaceous orchids still survive.
To date, more than five hundred native shrubs and trees have been planted, mainly holm oaks, mock privets, junipers, black pines, and maritime pines, along with several hundred psammophilous plants—species adapted to sandy soils—typical of the dune systems of the Upper Adriatic, sourced from specialized forest nurseries. The project will continue towards the mouth of the Tagliamento River in the coming years, with the goal of both consolidating and recreating a unique and characteristic environment of the Lignano coastline.