'La Selva' Woodland
Points of Interest in the Reserve
La Selva woodland is an interesting plain woodland covering over 100 ha, and represents the heart of the Nature Reserve. It is particularly important from a scientific point of view, since it is the last example of the kind of forest which covered until the 18th century the hills of the Marches region. It is characterized by the presence of the Turkey oak and by other trees such as the English oak, the flowering ash, and the field maple. Of interest are also the oriental hornbeam, present exclusively in the southern part of the Marches, Helleborus bocconei, and the so-called mouse plant. Other species are Buxus sempervirens and Carpesium cernuum, a very rare species in the northern part of Italy, even rarest in the central and southern parts.
As far as wildlife is concerned, although reduced in comparison to the past, it is still very interesting since it includes some characteristic species of the hills of the Marches region, such as the roe deer, which has been reintroduced in 1957 and which is controlled today by a preservation project. Among the mammals there are martens, badgers, and weasels; among the birds, tawny owls, lesser spotted woodpeckers, golden orioles, worlblers, short-toed treecreepers, jays, and many other birds characteristic of the woodland environment.
