Protected Area
Park Authority: Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano
Headquarters: Via F. Palumbo (Palazzo Mainenti) - 84078, Vallo della Lucania (SA)
Tel: 0974/719911
Fax: 0974/7199217
E-mail: ente@pncvd.it
Area: 181,048 hectares
Province: Salerno
Established in: 1991 - Law 394

The Park
The Park stretches from the Tyrrheanian coast up to the foot of the Apennines in the regions of Campania and Basilicata, and it includes the Alburni Mountains, the peaks of Mount Cervati and Mount Gelbison, the coastal buttresses of Mount Bulgheria and Mount Stella. Its peculiarity is given by the width and the heterogeneity of the territory it covers. Consequently, the ecological features of the territory are extremely heterogeneous too: environments which have remained almost unchanged alternate with areas which on the contrary have been strongly modified by the presence of urban centers and densely inhabited valleys.

Morphology
Mount Cervati is with its 1.898 meters the highest peak in Campania and one of the most interesting natural features of the Parco del Cilento. Thanks to its geographical "record" and to its naturalistic aspects, landscape, and forests, Mount Cervati, together with the area of Mount Gelbison overlooking Vallo della Lucania and the regions of the Alburni Mountains, of Mount Stella, and of Mount Bulgheria, represents a unique morphological system.
The beautiful fields of lavender are characteristic of the Cervati area: their colored flowers cover the non-forested areas and even the borders of the beechwoods, while their perfume attracts a rich entomofauna.
The Alburni Mountains, whose name derives from the word albus indicating the presence of white limestone of the Cretaceous period, form the northern part of Cilento and stretch out for approximately one hundred square miles.
Their calcareous nature has led to the creation of a number of beautiful caves: those in Castelcivita, inhabited since the Neolithic Age; those in Petrosa, which are interwoven for about 2000 meters and where, near Polla, the remains of wild goats, wild boars and an extinct bovid, the aurochs (Bos primigenius) have been found. The landscape you can enjoy from the peak of the massif is incredible: the Alburni Mountains are a natural balcony from which it is possible to see the whole plain of the Sele, the Tanagro, the Calore, the internal buttresses of Cilento,
and far away the sea.
The coastal area is characterized by two Sea Parks - Infreschi and Santa Maria of Castellabate - and a series of inlets, little sandy beaches, steep rock faces and promontories dominated by old watch towers built for the defense of the urban nuclei give it its typical Mediterranean aspect.

Fauna
The avifauna is of particular interest, both from a naturalistic and a scientific point of view. A couple of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) nest in the Cervati area,
and the presence of other wandering specimens has been regularly signaled: among them, the very rare rock partridge (Alectoris graeca), above all in the Apennine area between Sanza and Rofrano; the rare chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), a species typical of the high mountains and which is diminishing everywhere. Other specimens nesting in the Park are:
the green woodpecker (Picus viridis), the great-spotted woodpecker
(Dendrocopos major), and the very rare black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius).
It is of particular interest the presence of the sparrow hawk (Accipiter nisus),
a bird of prey typical of the forestal ecosystems.
Among the mammals there are the wild boar (Sus scrofa), the marten
(Martes martes), the badger (Meles meles), the fox (Vulpus vulpus) and the
rare wolf, all of them representing only the most evident effect of a new
and rich ecological balance.

Flora
As far as phytogeography is concerned, an important aspect of the Park
is of course its flora.
There are approximately three thousand botanical species which can be
associated to a mosaic of vegetal landscapes:
from the rich and variegated Mediterranean maquis to the coastal pinewoods of aleppo pine; from the ilex groves to the mixed wood of broadleaf trees
in the hilly and the piedmont regions.
Going higher again we can find wide and ancient beechwoods, sometimes mixed with some silver firs and birches, which are present in the typical
Apennine mountain pastures.
The most interesting elements are the Primula palinuri and the Genista cilentina, punctiform native elements of the Park. Besides, there are many rare entities characterizing the different habitats on the whole territory.