00:02Beyond Venice's crowded canals, flamingos are taking up temporary residence in the lagoon outside the city.
00:09Over the decades, this fragile ecosystem has been profoundly altered, above all by the demands of port and industrial activities.
00:17But the scientists and environmental groups working to restore these wetlands say a sharp rise in the number of flamingos
00:23may be a sign their efforts are paying off.
00:26In the past 20 years, the number of flamingos in the lagoon has increased very significantly, especially last year's numbers
00:37were the highest ever.
00:40We still have to be careful when we're trying to claim that there's a certain trend because nature is very
00:50complicated.
00:52There's so many factors, some that change on the short term, others that are changing on the long term.
00:59A project funded through the EU Horizon 2020 program is taking shape, an initiative designed to bring part of the
01:06lost ecosystem back to life.
01:08Where we are now is a reconstructed wetland where sediments from port maintenance activities have been pumped into this contained
01:19area.
01:20And the idea is that it develops the ecological functionality of natural salt marsh.
01:29The presence of flamingos in the lagoon underlines the importance of the Venetian ecosystem
01:34and offers a new way for visitors to interpret the canal city and its many islands through their ecological and
01:40not just historical and artistic significance.
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