The ancient beech forest of Umbria

In the territory of Monte Sant’Angelo, in the Falascone area, there is an important natural reserve, a green lung that connects to the Umbra Forest, a protected natural area of the Gargano National Park. The “old beech forests” became part of the UNESCO heritage in 2017 (as part of the transnational asset “Ancient primordial beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe”) precisely by the recognition of the particular habitat and flora and fauna that animate the area.

The ancient beech forests recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site are found in various areas of 18 countries: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, France, North Macedonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine, as well as of course Italy. News of this ancient place, called “nemus garganicum”, are already mentioned by Ovid, Strabo and Virgil: it has the particularity of representing a system of complex forests, offering a wide spectrum of ecological models and various types of beech trees that adapt to conditions different environments. The beech in southern Europe has resisted every glaciation of the last million years, surviving different climatic conditions and problems, and then managing to expand over most of the territory after the last glaciation. After various historical events, the forest was declared inalienable by law 3713/1866 and is currently located in the highest part of the largest state forest in the Puglia region (730-760 meters above sea level).