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Lake Bilancino is an artificial reservoir, around which during the summer months many of the inhabitants of the area gather: in fact, it is possible to swim and practice some sports, including sailing, canoeing and windsurfing. The Bilancino Lake, just a few minutes from Barberino di Mugello, is a tourist area that offers many outdoor activities, in addition, during the summer season, the shore is bathing and is equipped with some establishments with umbrellas, chairs, sunbeds and catering services. A view of the Bilancino Lake Lake Bilancino, Barberino di Mugello Photo credits Thanks to its particularly clean waters, the lake is a perfect habitat for a very rich fish fauna, above all constituted by carps, carassi, chubs, trout perches, eels and perches. In order to promote the repopulation of certain fish species, fishing is not allowed in all areas. Nevertheless, sport fishing is very popular and in addition to this sport, there are many other opportunities to practice new sports, not only for Mugello, but for the whole of Tuscany, such as canoeing, sailing and windsurfing. Along the shores of the lake there are walking and cycling paths, you can go trekking and organize excursions to visit the lush flora and fauna around the lake area. And it is thanks to the presence of such a flourishing nature that, on the north-eastern shore of the lake, the Naturalistic Oasis of Gabbianello has been created, which is a resting place for animals migrating along the route towards the Tyrrhenian Sea. Today the Oasis of Gabbianello is the only protected area in the territory and has a great value in terms of biodiversity conservation, in fact the area of the lake is frequented by many birds, including the white stork, the crane, the wild goose, the nightingale and the hawk. The Oasis of Gabbianello offers, especially to families and children, the possibility to make known the great naturalistic and faunal value through guided tours and recreational activities. The dam, which contains 69 million cubic metres of water and reaches a maximum depth of 31 metres, was officially inaugurated when it opened to the public in 1999, but its design began after the Florence flood in 1966. In those years the project of a barrage on the Sieve river, in the Bilancino locality, began; in this way it was possible to limit the risks of flooding in the Arno and to solve the problems of water supply in the Florentine area.
