Part of the Alta Murgia National Park, today the Mercadante Forest covers 1,300 hectares (up from the initial 1,041), across the territory of Cassano delle Murge (872 hectares) and Altamura. The man-made forest is planted mostly with fast-growing conifers, especially Aleppo pine, which help prepare the soil for indigenous species like the downy oak and holly oak. The forest was required to offset the environmental damage to the countryside caused by the population boom and deforestation of the 1800s which affected the city itself. Barren soil, affected by erosion, could offer no resistance to the water which flowed, unimpeded, down to the valley, causing devastating flooding in 1905 (18 dead), 1915 and 1926 (19 dead, 50 injured). The events of 1926 destroyed the city’s flood defences and prompted the installation of a more robust intervention to contain advancing water during heavy rainstorms.
Apulia Film Commission
Cineporti di Puglia/Bari — c/o Fiera del Levante - Lungomare Starita 1 — 70132 Bari
Phone: +39 080 9752900
Fax: +39 080 9147464
Email: email@apuliafilmcommission.it
