We The Italians | Italian Gardens: Monte Arci Forest Complex

Italian Gardens: Monte Arci Forest Complex

Italian Gardens: Monte Arci Forest Complex

  • WTI Magazine #115 May 19, 2019
  • 1502

The "Monte Arci" forest complex, located on the homonymous volcanic massif, covers a total area of 5,985 hectares located on all sides of Monte Arci in Sardinia.

Considering the geo-pedological and vegetational situation present in the complex, the natural vocation is multifunctional: naturalistic-landscape, conservative, productive and of social and tourist valorization. Also the improvement of the vegetal formations of the holm-oaks and the cork-oaks are to favour the increase of the current fixed carbon stocks.

The great vastness of the territory, together with a noticeable environmental and climatic diversification referred to the morphology, the altitude and the exposure of the various slopes, causes the landscape to be quite variegated and diversified even in the presence of a uniforming element: the holm oak forest. This is the predominant type of vegetation that clearly characterizes Monte Arci, in its various stages of development, passing from the association with the species of the bush, to the evolved bush and coppice and tall woods. They can often be found in pure formation or in association with other essences such as downy oak, ("Is arrobis a Pau"), or often with cork (Serra 'e Ortigu, Monimenta, Corongiu Onnari and Su Laccu 'e S'Acqua a Morgongiori, "Su landiri drucci, su pittixi" in Usellus, Roia menta in Villaverde and "Sennixeddu e Sa paba senti" in Pau).

Of the more than 2000 species of Sardinian flora, well over 500 are found on the slopes of Monte Arci. From the essences of the Mediterranean scrub, such as strawberry tree, phyllirea, heather tree, pith rag, hawthorn, honeysuckle, olive, myrtle, various cysts, mastic, euphorbia tree, asphodel, peraster, holly, many orchids etc. , all the species make up the flora of a territory. These, though, are not randomly located in the territory, but are brought together by affinity eco-climate in more or less stable communities that take the name of "vegetation" that constitute the various plant landscapes.