Nature parks
The Monte Fenera Nature Park (Borgosesia)
Category: Parks
Already populated in pre-historic times, Monte Fenera has turned out to be a source of ethnological discoveries from the various eras. From a geological stand point, there are various cave groupings along the western wall, only two of which are particularly interesting to speleologists: the cave called “Buco della Bondaccia” and the one named “delle Arnerie”. The trek through the former, placed at a medium level of difficulty, is considered a training ground to gain experience; the latter, instead, offers an intricate trek of passages, wells, tunnels over 3,000 meters and with a maximum depth of 150 meters.
About 93% of the park’s area is covered by woods consisting primarily of age-old chestnuts trees; on the southern hills, black locust trees prevail and the cool northern slopes are an ideal habitat for beech trees. Through the patient work of cataloguing the flora within the area of the park, more than 800 different botanical species have been identified, among them, some very rare types of fern and the Alpine daphne.
In 1994, the first nesting by a black stork –one of the many birds that cross through the park in a northeast or southwest direction during winter migration – took place. The animal life varies according to the habitat. In the former chestnut groves, the lesser spotted woodpecker, the Eurasian nuthatch, and the short toed treecreeper have found a home. Mammals include the pine marten and the fat dormouse. Re-established undergrowth has given a home to wrens, blackcaps, and shrews which are oftentimes found in bushes and shrubs. The peregrine, the crag marten, and the wallcreeper, instead, find the calcareous Fenera cliffs quite congenial.
Information
Area: 3.303 hectares
Altitude: 320 – 899 meters
Founded: 1987
Environment: hill and mountain
E-mail: parco.fenera@reteunitaria.poemonte.it
www.parks.it/parco.monte.fenera
Head Office
Frazione Fenera Annunziata - 13011 Borgosesia (Vc)
Tel. and Fax: +39.0163.209356
