The 50,500 hectares of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, the oldest such park in Italy, comprise a rich and varied vegetation. The landscape changes towards the highest peaks where the old-growth beech forests (inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage) dominate the terrain.
These forests are remarkable in Europe for the height of the trees (up to 50m) and their age (up to 600 years old). The biodiversity in the area, due to the absence of human intervention, is also notable. Here, plants grow, reproduce and die naturally, without no interference by man. Pristine forests, thick and at times inextricable, extraordinary witnesses to the passing of time and magical places where the trees have created original and mysterious shapes.
There are five old-growth beech forests in Abruzzo: Val Cervara in Villavallelonga, where the trees grow slowly and very close together; Selva Moricento in Lecce dei Marsi, which develops among mountain ridges and karst sinkholes, a very favourable habitat for diversity; Coppo del Morto, between Pescasseroli and Scanno, where some trees are over 500 years old; Coppo del Principe in Pescasseroli, an evocative forest with several rare bird species; Val Fondillo between Opi and Civitella Alfedena, an area formed from two forests and rendered even more fascinating by an abundance of watercourses.
Film Commission d'Abruzzo
Centro Regionale Beni Culturali - Sulmona
Phone: + 39 0864 576303
Email: crbc@regione.abruzzo.it
