• Monticiano

    Museum of Biodiversity

The Museum of Biodiversity is located in Monticiano, inside the Nature Reserve of the Upper Merse.  It is an avantgarde structure designed to become a national reference point in environmental education.

The province of Siena is, in fact, one of the Italian areas with the greatest biodiversity, and its Nature Reserves are crucial to the ecological health of the territory.

Housed with a modern structure and set up in an engaging, immersive fashion, the museum illustrates our planet’s incredible heritage of biodiversity and points out the steps necessary for conservation, exploring the complexity of the relationship between humankind and various natural ecosystems.

The museum’s exhibits are spread out over two storeys.  The ground floor, made up of 6 sections, tells what biodiversity is, where it may be found, what purpose it serves and how it arises.  It explains what the extinction of species means, and highlights the risks to the survival of life on the planet, and then investigates tools for conservation, starting with the concept of protected areas.  The second floor, dedicated to the territory of Siena, has 14 exhibition islands that identifty and describe the individual characteristics of the nature reserves in the Province.  This large hall will soon include an exhibit dedicated to WWF Oases.

A visit to the museum is thus a voyage of discovery about life on Earth, its complexity and beauty, and the many risks it is suffering because of human beings.  It is a journey-story in which visitors are not only spectators but also the main characters.  Each exhibit prompts the desire to find out more, to double-check what you think you know, to ask yourself questions about environmental sustainability.

Thanks to the various informative and scientific insights picked up along the way, you enter the museum as a curious visitor and come out as a citizen aware of new things.

The museum was designed to welcome workers in the field, researchers, school groups, touristsand WWF summer and winter camps dedicated to children and to schools through models, games, prompts to stimulate curiosity and inspire the general public to develop further interest in environmental issues and in the discovery of a territory of incalculable value and beauty.

Third room, “What good is biodiversity?”: What’s the use of mosquitoes? How are the living species that we all know evolving?  Informative panels and animations encourage in-depth exploration of these themes through play!

The “Nature Reserves in the Province of Siena” section: listen to the sounds of animals living in the various nature reserves, or use the monitor as a magnifying glass to discover hidden details.


Museum of Biodiversity
Strada Provinciale, 73bis
53015 Monticiano
Tel. 0577 892735; 335 7296665
email: info@museodellabiodiversita.it

www.museodellabiodiversita.it

OPENING HOURS

from May 2023

Sat-Sun 10:30 AM – 6 PM

 

**

TICKETS

regular: € 9

reduced: € 5

gratuito
children under 6 years

For further information on fares, reduced prices and booking, please contact the museum: 3357296665 o  museomonticiano@wwfoasi.it


The town of Monticiano is set in an environment that is pure and uncontaminated yet at the same time warm and welcoming, surrounded by centuries-old woods, bathed by the Rivers Merse and Farma which give rise to two nature reserves that are perfect for hiking, outdoor excursions and swims—not to leave out the Terme di Petriolo thermal baths, rich in mineral salts and healing properties.   In the area nearby, visitors may also go and see two parks of environmental art, one with installations by the Swiss artist Kurt Laurenz Metzler, the other by Roberto Ciulli, with sculptures by international artists. In terms of places of the spirit, visits to the Augustinian hermitage of Camerata, the Church of San Lorenzo in Merse are well worthwhile; not to be missed are the Castle of Tocchi and the famous Abbey of San Galgano, which has nothing but the sky for a ceiling.