Cozzo Ferriero

This is a wild area without human use on the boundary to Calabria on Jurassic limestone. In the southern Apennines, on the steep and rugged slopes of the 1,920-metre-high Coppola di Paola, interspersed with valleys, grows a rugged, almost pure beech forest with up to 400-year-old beech trees and epiphytes. The unusually dense herb layer is rich in endemic species.

• UNESCO recognition: 2017
• Protected area: Pollino National Park
• Beech forest region: Central Mediterranean
• Area: 95.75 ha, buffer zone 2,851 ha
• Number of component parts: 1
• Altitudinal range: high montane (1,750 – 1,900 m above sea level)
• Fauna: Wolf, European wildcat, Eagle owl, Middle spotted woodpecker, Spectacled salamander, Italian crested newt, Alpine longhorn beetle