My Sardinia

Of all the regions in Italy, none comes close to the level of the forest cover of Sardinia. Ancient trackways crisscross its interior, offering the nature lover and the adventurer an abundance of cork forests and a variety of wildlife.

The forests of Sardinia are one of Europe’s main sources of cork. The cork oak forest can be seen all the way from Gallura to the central mountains in northern Barbagia, and even thickly planted around the Tempio Pausania. Most common on the island are holm oaks, with some going back to ancient times when Sardinia was covered with the trees. An ancient holm oak forest can be found in the Gennargentu mountains and the Abbasanta plateau near Oristanu.

Another ancient, intact forest can be found at Sas Badas and Su Lidone on the Sopramonte massif, worth seeing because it is one of the last of its kind in Europe. A petrified forest, forever preserved by a volcanic eruption, can be found near Soddi on the shore of Lake Omodeo.

The oak forests are also home to Sardinia’s varied avian life. The blackcap and the Orphean warbler relish the thick forest canopy, away from the macchias that characterize some of the landscape. In the olive groves and fruit orchards thrive also a number of birds, most significantly the rare wryneck. Near small bodies of water are alders and oleanders, while established streams sometimes host semi-aquatic clippers and the Sardinian salamander.

Higher up, among the grazing sheep and goats, the tree line changes into bay oaks and maples, as well as clumps of holly and yew. Other rare wildlife make this part of the forest their home: the rare Bonelli’s eagle, the golden eagle, goshawks, jays, and peregrine falcons can be found feeding on their prey. Toward the summit, the forest gives way to grassland, junipers, and trees dwarfed by the Mistral.

The mountains of Sardinia are home to unique plants and animals. In Gennargentu are plants such as the peony or “mountain rose”, as well as one of the few hundred remaining Sardinian stags. Martens, wildcats, and boar can be found in the Monte Arcosu in the mountains of Sulcis. The mountains, along with Corsica and Cyprus, are also the last remaining habitats of the mouflon, or wild sheep, with their large, curved horns. Wild cinghiali (boars) graze on nuts that abound on the lower slopes, alongside their more domesticated cousins.

The abundance of wildlife on Sardinia is threatened by the unmonitored and indiscriminate hunting by locals who engage in the activity for sport as well as for sustenance. Fortunately, the impact has not yet reached critical levels and the pressure of the negative public opinion from their neighbors has been enough to increase the number of protected areas on the island.