Abruzzo, Land of Parks
Abruzzo is a land of parks, with three major national parks and one regional park: the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo; the Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga; the Parco Nazionale della Majella; and the Parco Regionale Sirente-Velino. This unique rural scenery stretches from glaciers to the highest peaks of the Appennines and from plateaux to waterfalls, rising from sea level to fully 3,000 metres.
The Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise
The mountains in this, the oldest of the four parks, were formed between 170 and 30 million years ago. Principally comprising a group of mountain ranges standing at 900 to 2,200 metres above sea level, the parck covers a vast part of the region from which it gets its name, but it also includes parts of the Lazio and of Molise regions, extending over 50,000 hectares in all.
The park's ridges were once under the sea, which explains the territory's extremely varied fossil sedimentation from a geological point of view. Grottoes and underground streams and rivers remind us that the park's territory was modelled by glaciation and karst phenomena over the millennia. Two lakes, the Barrea and the Vivo, and numerous rivers and streams such as the Sangro, the Giovenco, the Melfa and the Volturno, provide the fauna and flora with water habitats of immense natural importance.
The park is also particularly rich in the variety of its flora and fauna, with over 2,000 different species of plant and over 60 species of mammal, 300 species of bird and 40 species of reptile, amphibian and fish. Indeed, the park has played a crucial role in the conservation of several species of importance to Italy's wildlife heritage including the golden eagle, the Marsican brown bear, the wolf and the Abruzzi chamois. Moreover the numerous visitor centres, wildlife areas and the park's network of footpaths have helped to give the small towns and villages in the region, with their fabulous heritage of history, a new lease on life.
The Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga
150,000 hectares of natural country make up this park, which includes in its perimeter not only the highest peak in the Appenine range but also the only glacier in southern Europe. Its geographical position, the height of its mountains and the geological variety of its territory all help to give this park an extraordinarily varied complex of ecosystems and scenery.
The park is home to examples of the most representative species in the Appenines such as the wolf, the Abruzzi chamois, the bear, the golden eagle and the short-toed eagle.
The Parco Nazionale della Majella
This park, unique by virtue of its geographical position, its vastness and its majestic scenery with over 30 mountains topping 2,000 metres, includes immense areas of impressively rugged country with a major level of biodiversity. The mountain of La Majella, which Latin historian Pliny the Elder called "the father of all mountains", is known by the people of Abruzzo as the Mother Mountain.
The Parco regionale Sirente-Velino
The Parco regionale del Sirente-Velino, with an extension of over 50,000 hectares, includes in its perimeter both the Monte Velino and the Sirente massif. Situated in the heart of the park are the spectacular Stiffe Grottoes with their underground river, small lakes, rapids and waterfalls up to 20 metres high formed by water emerging from the grotto.
Photo: Parco nazionale d'Abruzzo official website
