Description of the attraction
The Pineta di Santa Filomena Nature Reserve is surrounded by habitable lands to the north, south and west. It protects approximately 20 hectares of coastal pine groves that grow along the three-kilometer Adriatic coast north of Pescara and south of the town of Montesilvano. The reserve was established in 1977, and since then a rehabilitation center for birds of prey has been operating on its territory. The Pineta di Santa Filomena, together with the Dannunziana Regional Nature Reserve, are the last surviving fragments of the once vast pine groves that once spread along the entire Adriatic coast.
The three main tree species that form the backbone of the coastal forest ecosystem are Alep pine, Italian pine (aka pine) and seaside pine. Other types of trees and shrubs grow on the border of the reserve, which in the future may "capture" unfavorable zones, for example, sand dunes. In the pine grove itself, laurel trees and a stone oak are sometimes found. The Italian pine, despite the name, is not endemic to these places - it was brought here during the years of the fascist regime to increase the production of resin for experiments in the chemical industry (using plant materials).
Despite the fact that the territory of the "Pineta di Santa Filomena" reserve, due to its location, is regularly subjected to pollution and is slowly "captured" by the city, it is still one of the last local natural ecosystems that can offer refuge to migratory bird species - common and black tern. Mediterranean gull, seagulls and cormorants. Among the nesting bird species, there are garden pikas, blue tit, black-headed warbler and chisel.
