Sandwiched between temperate Europe and African heat, Italy is on the front line of climate change and is witnessing a rise in tropical diseases such as malaria and tick-borne encephalitis, a new report says.

Italy was declared free of malaria in 1970, but it is making a comeback, said the Italian environmental organisation Legambiente. Tick-borne encephalitis, a virus which attacks the nerve system, is also on the way back. While only 18 cases had been reported before 1993, 100 have been since, mostly around Venice.

"Illnesses are arriving from Africa, while tropical animals and plants are attacking our biodiversity, droughts and flooding are on the rise, and semi-desert areas are appearing," said Legambiente's director general, Francesco Ferrante.

A third ailment, visceral leishmaniasis, carried by sandflies and potentially fatal, is expanding rapidly, the report added. Cases in Italy have risen to 150 a year from 50 before 2000, with the southern region of Campania a hotspot.

Of six sustained droughts in Italy in the last 60 years four have occurred since 1990. The average temperature has increased by 0.4C in the north in 20 years and by 0.7C in the south. Ten million hectares "are at risk of desertification".

Twenty percent of the fish now swimming in the Mediterranean, including barracuda, are types that have migrated from the Red Sea as water temperatures rise.

Italy's combination of sea coast, mountains, deep valleys and plains gives rise to a rich variety of food products but climate change could tip the balance, Mr Ferrante said. "We are at the southern edge of the globe's temperate area and that is why Italy is being particularly hit by the collapse of the climatic equilibrium."