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The Natural Reserve of Province Interest Pineta Dannunziana, also called “Pineta Dannunzianal is a natural reserve located in the Southern area of the city of Pescara. Nowadays, it has an extension of about 53 hectares, of which only 35 are part of the ancient forest, the so called Pineta di Pescara, known from the 8th century as point of reference for Byzantine sailors, who sailed along this part of coast  – on the way to and back from Ravenna – and found shelter here during storms.  It is called also Pineta D’Avalos or Parco D’Avalos, from the name of the family who owned the Marquisate of Pescara, in the Bourbon period and in the Pineta Dannunziana one, after that Gabriele D’Annunzio settled here in 1904 and 1912 the tragedy “Figlia di Iorio”.

The area has been subjected for centuries to continues property transfers, till part of the forest was cut down in 1653 to sell the wood and gain new buildable soil.  At the beginning of the 18th century the pine wood had an extension of 3thousand hectares.
During 1900, what remained of the forest became a meeting point for the inhabitants of Pescara and among them there was the poet and writer Gabriele D’Annunzio.

In 2000 the entire area was put under the protection as Natural Reserve of provincial interest “Pineta Dannunziana” and its management was given to the province of Pescara and the next year to the municipality of Pescara.

Fauna. No matter its small dimensions, there are numerous species of vertebrate animals with 107 birds species, 14 mammals, 11 amphibious, reptiles and fishes. Among the birds, there are many migratory species.

Flora. Thanks to the presence of water in the subsoil, numerous vegetable species typical of wet sea areas grow here, such as Tripidium ravennae or Erianthus ravennae, Schoenus nigricans and Juncus littoralis.   The dune vegetation is composed of scrubland with Cistus salviifolius,  Cistus creticus,  Rosa sempervirens, Teucrium polium, Verbascum niveum, Lotus creticus and Romulea rollii.

The pinewood is formed by Pinus halepensis), with windy trunks, Pinus pinea, with umbrella-crown foliage and Pinus pinaster, with erect pyramidal shape. The undergrowth is formed by myrtles (Myrtus communis), lentiscos (Pistacia lentiscus), laurel (Laurus nobilis), Ligustrum vulgaris, Nerium oleander, avens and smilax. In addition, the pine wood transforms into a Mediterranean sclerophyll wood, characterised by holm oaks (Quercus ilex) and  downy oaks (Quercus pubescens), together with maple trees (Acer campestre), lindens (Tilia europaea), Ulmus minor and  there are also exotic species like Robinia pseudoacacia and eucalyptus.

Around the lake in the reserve, grow white poplars (Populus alba), white willows (Salix alba) and weeping willows (Salix babylonica), together with Carex pendula, Typha latifolia, Phragmites australis, Lythrum salicaria and other reparial species.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)