This reserve was established in 1988 as a partially zoological nature reserve and is spread over 96 hectares, divided into a 62-hectare reserve proper and a 34-hectare buffer zone. The whole reserve area is a zone of special protection and the reserve zone proper is a Site of Community Importance.

The reserve occupies floodbeds on the left bank of the River Po, in the southern extremes of the province of Mantua, and is semicircular in shape, with an irregular convex profile to the north. It lies, on average, 21 metres above sea level. The area comprises an old oxbow lake that stores water for a few days a year during floods; in the remaining periods, it is invaded by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, demonstrating the loss of features peculiar to wetlands because it is slowly but progressively being filled in.

The reserve features very different ecosystems and vegetations (coarse sand, oxbows, hygrophilous woods, plain woods etc.) of primary importance in the lower Po valley. On the one hand, their presence diversifies the landscape while, on the other, they are home to many fauna species once typical of the zone.

Pomponesco is to the north of the reserve and separated from the protected area by a floodbank, along which runs an asphalt road more than 4 metres higher than the level of the countryside. The reserve is in an excellent position for visitors and linked to the town of Pomponesco by four routes, two directly along the road above the riverbank. Thanks to a river mooring close to the oxbow lake, it can also be visited by those travelling by river.