 The peaks of Campanito (1514 meters) and Sambughetti (1559) in the province of Enna, between Nicosia and Cerami, represent an ideal chain continuum of Nebrodis, and are at the heart of this SCI and of the Riserva Naturale Orientata. The main feature is a rich beech wood, with trees also of advanced age and huge size (more than 20 meters high) located in the upper part of the Bosco della Giumenta, on top of the mountain Sambuchetti. The forest, located at 1,400 m above sea level, is the witness of a much more extensive beech forest formed during the last ice age. In fact, it is the most southern site of the presence of beech in Europe.
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 Besides beech there are also oak and chestnut trees, maples, Turkey oaks and holly woods forming very complex and vital forests and which are characterized by rich undergrowth of species including spring cyclamen, false mountain pepper, rose hips. The forests are rich in hat mushrooms (Basidiomycetes), including several edible: agaric citrine, poker drum, the little family good ("honeyagaric"), the champignon and the trunnion, poisonous / toxic, however, the lepiota crested.
Fauna: fox, wild cat, marten, weasel can be found among the predators. An exceptional presence is the marsh tit of Sicily, a bird endemic to the territory of the Nebrodis. Relevant hydric vegetation can be associated with the pond of Campanito. In humid areas, about 1,300 m above sea level, between lakes and small ponds around poplars and willows breed amphibians like the painted discoglosso and the common toad warts, while in the waters live the grass snake and marsh turtle. |
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