Umbra Forest - Gargano - Apulia

In 1993 most of the Gargano area, including the Tremiti Islands and the island ofPiano-sa, was made into a national park, the hear of which is the Foresta Umbra, a wood covering the hills of central-east Gargano. Covering some 15,000 hectares, the Foresta Umbra has three distinct sections: Umbra and Jacotenente, Ginestra and Sfilzi. The vegetation, favoured by the rainfall (1,350 mm per year), is dense and lush. Beeches are the most common trees and at times reach colossal sizes. At higher altitudes and in wetter zones besides beeches there are other species of trees such as yews, maples, Itornbeams while in the other zones there are turkey oaks, elms and bay oaks. Bushes and plants include buckthorn, turpentine trees, arboreal Kuphorbm and even plants more typical of the coastal Mediterranean bash such as holm-oaks, arbutus berry and others. The Foresla Umbra offers afielter to a wide variety of birds such as the rare lesser spotted woodpecker and the white-backed woodpecker; birds of prey mch as the sparrow-hawk, lawny owl and eagle-owl and animals such as the wild-cat, marten' and wild boar. In the Foresta Umbra there am also around 120 specimens of Gargano roe deer, a species which has never been crossbred and so slill has the characterislws of the ancient Italian roe-deer family. Given Us great- naturalist value, the Fomsta l/mlira is now carefully defended; besides pir,nic areas and an extensive network ofpathivaysfor walks or outings by mountain-bike, some areas are now included ill a natural park where the wood is alimoed to evolve williout man's intervention. These areas (the reserves of Sorgentola, Sfilzi,  Falascone, Umbra, Ischitella, Carpino) are fairly small compared to the size of the forest as a whole and cover less than one thousand hectares; the total absence of human activities means that the wood has alt the characteristics of a primitive forest.