Giardino Botanico Litoraneo di Porto Caleri, Coastal botanical garden in Rosolina, Italy

The Giardino Botanico Litoraneo di Porto Caleri is a nature reserve and botanical garden established in 1990 on a strip of sand dunes between the mouth of the Adige and the Po di Levante, in Rosolina Mare. It covers about 44 hectares and holds a dozen ecosystems with roughly 220 plant species, from loose-sand vegetation to salt marsh and pine and elm woods. Three circular trails of 600, 1,650 and 2,850 metres, partly on boardwalks, cross pinewood, dunes, Mediterranean scrub and wetlands.

The garden project was created in 1990 to protect the coastal landscape and its natural biodiversity. Its founding brought together regional forestry authorities and a university to combine scientific research with practical conservation.

The garden's name reflects its position along a narrow coastal strip where sand and salt shape all life forms. Visitors walking the paths encounter plants adapted to harsh maritime conditions, from marram grass stabilizing dunes to shrubs that thrive in salty air.

The site is accessible via marked walking paths that lead through different sections of the dune landscape. Visitors should wear comfortable shoes and be prepared for sandy trails, especially when weather is windy or wet.

The site holds a rare collection of beach orchids that have adapted to lean, salty sandy soils. These plants are hard to find elsewhere and display some of the most extreme adaptations to coastal living.