Riserva Naturale Val Alba

Natural features, flora and fauna

Val Alba is situated in an area with a great ecological value, namely the halfway belt between Alps, Alpine foothills and Carnic and Giulie Alps. The rugged reliefs and the deep valleys form a mosaic of environments characterized by rich and diversified animal and vegetal communities with different origins and phytogeography.
These characteristics made it possible to establish, within the Reserve, the Site of Community Importance Çuc dal Bôr, also belonging to the Natura 2000 Network.
The physical as well as biogeographical factors set the limit of the tree vegetation at the altitude of 1,500 m, and they originate a very interesting vegetation variability.
Beech trees prevail in comparison with European spruces, together with the European larch, the rowan, the mountain pine and the black pine.
Also the presence of some rare and not very spread species is very important: white buttercups, Papaver from the Giulie and the Lily from Corniola.
More than 80 nesting bird species are also present, such as the White-winged Snowfinch, the Peregrine Falcon, the Golden Eagle and the Black Woodpecker (symbol of the reserve), as well as more than 50 mammals together with many amphibians and reptiles.
They are all local species of this alpine sector which is not only characterized by the presence of ungulates, but also by the presence of large carnivores, bear and lynx, from Slovenia.