BOSCO DI MONTE FINESTRELLE

 

The natural landscape belongs completely to the chalky nature of Mount Finestrelle; it is not an isolated high ground, but it is part of a high plain, covering quite a large area and delimited by steep slopes with small valleys at intervals which is included in the SCI site (Site of Community Interest) of the Complesso Monti di Gibellina e S. Ninfa – Complex of Mounts Gibellina and S. Ninfa. On the chalky outcrops, strips of Mediterranean scrub survive, characterised by the flowering of the Euforbia arborea, thyme and wild orchids; in the valleys there is a thriving riparian vegetation, of great interest for the high diversity of the flora. The fauna includes the hedgehog, the Sicilian shrew, the rabbit, the porcupine the weasel and the fox. The birds include the buzzard and the small kestrel, characteristic for the position a spirito santo – like the holy spirit - that it assumes during hunting, the nightingale and the jay.