The "Migliarino, San Rossore and Massaciuccoli Natural Park", was founded in 1979 following various ups and downs and a long political, social and cultural elaboration (similar to other situations that occurred throughout the national territory). This is one of the first institutional regional parks and the second in Tuscany only to the Maremma Natural Park, founded in 1975.
The Park's territory stretches along the coast along the provinces of Pisa and Lucca; this area was originally a lagoon with silty marshlands and with the passing of time the municipalities of Pisa, Viareggio, San Giuliano Terme, Vecchiano and Massarosa were affected by debris carried by the river Serchio and more significantly by the river Arno. The total surface of the Migliarino, San Rossore and Massaciuccoli Natural Park measures 24,000 hectares and geographically it stretches from the northern outskirts of Viareggio to the Scolmatore channel that marks the border between the Pisa and Leghorn provinces; it ultimately stretches inland including the area around Lake Massaciuccoli right up to the slopes of Mount Quiesa. The variety and vastness of the territory also determines a discreet climate variability that can be technically defined as "humid Mediterranean", with homogeneous rainfall throughout the year and a remarkable difference in temperature between winter and summer. We can consider it a first transition between the Mediterranean and the continental regimes.
Habitats which are so different from each other with microclimatic situations just as diverse, allow the Migliarino, San Rossore and Massaciuccoli Natural Park to be populated by a great variety of animals, a true open air natural encyclopaedia.

There is a remarkable presence of Avifauna (birds), more than 200 identified species of birds, both belonging to the migratory and permanent bird populations; in the humid areas, the species and the colours vary according to the seasons, autumn and spring are certainly the best seasons for bird watching, however you can easily see a great deal of birds also during the winter. In these areas aquatic and wading birds are undisputed residents and there are also numerous wild ducks, wading birds, grey herons, great white herons and you can often meet pink flamingos and storks. Obviously, there is also a great variety of avifauna in the woods with the red and green woodpeckers; there are also many buzzards which are the largest of the Park's birds of prey as well as many species of owls and tawny owls. Amongst the mammals you can find a great deal of deer in particular in the San Rossore and Migliarino Estates together with wild boar which can be seen throughout the entire territory; you can easily see numerous wild rabbits, dormice, red foxes also during the daytime together with squirrels. There are a great many amphibians and reptiles. The sand fauna include common bivalves such as the banded wedge shells and sea molluscs. Among the fish you can see the pike, the tench, the eel and the mullet (Mugil cephalus) that populate both fresh and sea waters; it is important to mention the presence of the American red shrimp, called the killer shrimp widespread in the lake wetlands and subsequently also in the surrounding humid areas; due to the fact that this is a ferocious predator (from here it takes its nickname as killer) which settled in this territory following uncontrolled escapes from specific breeding farms created on the shores of the lake at the beginning of the 1990s, which then rapidly bred also due to the lack of natural predators. Also in the insect world there are several populations of Coleoptera, spiders and butterflies.

Inside the Park nature trails have been developed and which can be covered on foot (with and without a guide, horse trails to be covered both on horseback and by carriage as well as trails that can be covered by bike.
The main itineraries include:

• Lake Massaciuccoli by boat leaving from Torre del Lago.
• Macchia Lucchese, a nature trail to be covered on foot with a guide through the Lucchese countryside
• San Rossore Estate, guided tours on horseback and by carriage as well as by bike and by miniature railway