Biferno River flows into the sea between Termoli and Campomarino, with a 817-hectars wide estuary. In the middle valley there is also Lake of Liscione (or Guardialfiera), an artificial basin created by a river dam on a bottleneck dominated by Peloso Mount. Between the lake and the estuary, the valley hosts irrigated cultures for industrial production, like sunflower, orchard and vegetables.
The mouth is located inside one of the three Sites of Community Importance on the Molise coast. The water slowdown in the plain mouths, together with the groundwater coinciding with the river, cause such a poor outflow that wet, waterlogged areas emerge before the coast; at the same time, the low depth ahead the mouth allow the formation of coastal dunes and lakes. The Biferno’s mouth is experiencing steady erosion and moving back, is modified by breakwater rocks and the rushes are dying due to sea water. Now the water flow at the mouth is very low and the sedimentary one almost nonexistent.
Near the mouth, both in the north and in the south, there are dune rests and salty meadows with hollows hosting temporary lakes. The most interesting for their plants and birds species are the ones on the Campomarino coastline, south of the estuary, continuously threatened by the construction rush. This change of the land destination causes the loss of the lakes as “stepping stones” for the fauna of community interest. To protect landscape, flora and fauna, the EU Project Life Maestrale operated on the threats against the habitat and species of community interest in the sites of Rete Natura 2000 on Molisan coast. The project acts to enhance and recover the natural heritage of these areas, promoting good practices among owners and users of the seaside.