Parco Nazionale del Pollino | |
---|---|
Location | Basilicata and Calabria, Italy |
Nearest city | Morano Calabro |
Coordinates | 39°55′36″N16°06′41″E / 39.92667°N 16.11139°E |
Area | 1,925.65 km2 (743.50 sq mi) |
Established | 1993 |
Governing body | Ministero dell'Ambiente |
Pollino National Park (Italian: Parco Nazionale del Pollino) is an Italian national park in the southern peninsula, in the provinces of Cosenza, Matera and Potenza. Its named from the homonymous mountain massif Pollino. The park is home of the oldest European tree, a Heldreich's pine estimated 1,230 years old [1] and the symbol of the park is the rare Bosnian pine tree. Since November 2015, with the inclusion in the global list of geoparks by UNESCO, the Pollino Park is considered a World Heritage Site. Encompassing a total of 88,650 ha in the Lucanian side (Muro lucano) and 103,915 in the Calabrian one is the largest park in the country covering 1,925.65 square kilometers [2] [3] and among the 50 largest in the world. The common beech is the park's most prevalent tree and the park is also home to a variety of important medicinal herbs. [4]
Towns with interesting sights include Rotonda, Castrovillari, Morano Calabro (convent of Colloreto), Laino Borgo, Laino Castello, Mormanno, Scalea, Papasidero, Civita, Cerchiara (church of Madonna delle Armi). Albanian-speaking communities are present in communes such as San Paolo Albanese, San Costantino Albanese and others. In the Valle del Mercure have been discovered remains of pre-historic species such as Elephas antiquus and Hippopotamus major .
Rivers and streams include the Lao, Sinni, Coscile, Garga, and Raganello.
Wildlife include golden eagle, Italian wolf, roe deer, wild boar, red fox, European otter, Calabrian black squirrel, forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula), black woodpecker, chough, peregrine falcon, red kite, lanner falcon, Egyptian vulture and red deer (were introduced in the 2000s).
Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park is an Italian national park established in 1923. The majority of the park is located in the Abruzzo region, with smaller parts in Lazio and Molise. It is sometimes called by its former name Abruzzo National Park. The park headquarters are in Pescasseroli in the Province of L'Aquila. The park's area is 496.80 km2 (191.82 sq mi).
Gran Paradiso National Park, is an Italian national park in the Graian Alps, between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions. The park is named after Gran Paradiso mountain, which is located in the park; it is contiguous with the French Vanoise National Park. The land the park encompasses was initially protected in order to protect the Alpine ibex from poachers, as it was a personal hunting ground for King Victor Emmanuel II, but now also protects other species.
Castrovillari is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
Laino Borgo is a town and comune of 1,879 inhabitants in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It is located on the border between two regions, and lies at the entrance to the Pollino National Park, Italy's largest national park and an area of importance for its geology and biodiversity, recognized as a UNESCO Geopark since 2015.
The Sibillini Mountains, or Sibylline Mountains are one of the major mountain groups in the Italian Peninsula, and part of the Apennines range. Most of the peaks are over 2,000 m (6,600 ft); the highest is Monte Vettore at 2,476 m (8,123 ft).
The Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna is a national park in Italy. Created in 1993, it covers an area of about 368 square kilometres (142 sq mi), on the two sides of the Apennine watershed between Romagna and Tuscany, and is divided between the provinces of Forlì Cesena, Arezzo and Florence.
The Pollino is a massif in the southern Apennines, on the border between Basilicata and Calabria, southern Italy. It became part of the Pollino National Park in 1992. The main peaks include Monte Pollino (2,248 m) and the massif's high point, Serra Dolcedorme (2,267 m), which overlooks the plain of Sibari.
Maiella National Park is a national park located in the provinces of Chieti, Pescara and L'Aquila, in the region of Abruzzo, Italy.
Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park is an Italian national park in the Province of Salerno, in Campania in southern Italy. It includes much of the Cilento, the Vallo di Diano and the Monti Alburni. It was founded in 1991, and was formerly known as the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano.
The South Apennine mixed montane forests is an ecoregion in the southern Apennine Mountains of southern Italy and Sicily. It has a Mediterranean climate, and is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
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The Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park is a national park in the province of Belluno, Veneto, in the northern Italy.
The Calabrian black squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus, endemic to the forests of the regions of Calabria and Basilicata, in the south of the Italian Peninsula.
The Friulian Dolomites Natural Park is a nature reserve in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy. Established in 1996, it encompasses the Friulian Dolomites and the upper Tagliamento valley and is the largest natural park in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is mostly located in the province of Pordenone, with a smaller part in the province of Udine.
The Northern Grigna Regional Park is a nature reserve in Lombardy, Italy. Established in 2005, it encompasses most of the Grigna massif, located in the province of Lecco, in the Bergamasque Alps).
The Maritime Alps Natural Park is a nature reserve in Piedmont, Italy. Originally established in 1980 as the Argentera Natural Park, in an area previously part of a royal hunting reserve established by Victor Emmanuel II in 1857, it assumed its current name and form in 1995, when it was merged with the Palanfrè Woods and Lakes Natural Reserve. Located near the border with France, the park borders the Mercantour National Park.
The Campo dei Fiori Regional Park is a nature reserve in Lombardy, Italy. Established in 1984 and enlarged in 2009, it comprises the Campo dei Fiori and Martica massifs in the Varese Prealps, between the Valganna, the Valcuvia and the city of Varese.
The Ampezzo Dolomites Natural Park is a nature reserve in Veneto, Italy. Established in 1990, it is entirely located in the territory of Cortina d’Ampezzo, in the Province of Belluno, and encompasses some of the most famous Dolomitic groups, such as the Tofane, Monte Cristallo, the Croda Rossa d'Ampezzo, Lagazuoi, Pomagagnon and Col Bechei. Together with the adjacent Naturpark Fanes-Sennes-Prags in the Province of Bolzano, it forms a protected area of 37,000 hectares in the heart of the Dolomites. The park has been designated as a Site of Community Importance, and about one quarter of its territory is afforded further protection through twenty smaller reserves.
The Parco delle Groane e della Brughiera Briantea is a nature reserve in Lombardy, Italy. Established in 1976 and enlarged in 2017, it covers over 8,000 hectares of woods and moorlands in the upper Po Plain northwest of Milan, across the territory of 28 municipalities in the provinces of Milan, Como and Monza.