Many spectacular places in Italy deserve to be visited and are often unknown to most tourists, often to the Italians themselves. One of these is Rocconi Woods (Italian: Bosco Rocconi), a truly splendid place in Tuscany, far from the sweet hills that we all know, perfect for lovers of nature and hiking.
The Rocconi Natural Reserve is a protected area in the hilly Maremma, 45 km from Grosseto, near the town of Roccalbegna. The reserve extends for about 371 hectares, of which 130 are WWF Oasis. What characterizes Rocconi Woods is its harsh and wild nature, with some areas still unexplored. High vertical walls and rocky pinnacles above Mediterranean woods with centuries-old trees and two waterways, Albegna and Rigo, which flow into a suggestive corner before taking a spectacular canyon about 700 meters long, the result of the millennial work of erosion of the rivers.
In the summer, the grand broad-leaved trees provide hikers with an excellent natural shelter from the scorching sun. In addition, the low rainfall of the period allows you to walk on the pebbles of the river and discover the traces of the numerous animals living in this area. You can also swim in a bottleneck with vertical walls so close that you can touch them by opening your arms, a gorge carved by the water that takes the name “Narrow”.
Flora and fauna
Holm oaks dominate the stony and well-drained soils, with centuries-old specimens clinging to the limestone walls. The sub-mediterranean woods occupy about half of the oasis and is dominated by Turkey oak and many other species such as flowering ash, hornbeam, rowan and bay. In the luminous undergrowth, the blackthorn, the wild pear and the juniper find space. Very interesting is the presence of some mountain beech trees and maples, which thanks to the phenomenon of thermal inversion grow in the cooler valley floor at a height of about 300 meters above sea level. The riparian vegetation is made up of poplars, willows and ash trees, while the limestone soil, both in the clearings and in the woods, allows the development of about 30 species of orchids, including Orchis Laxiflora and Hymantoglossum Adriaticum.
The fauna that can be found in the Rocconi woods is very rich. The oasis is very popular with birds of prey with 8 nesting species, including the red kite, the short-toed eagle, the honey buzzard and also the rare lanner falcon (even if its presence seems to decrease in recent years). The presence of birds of prey is so remarkable that the WWF has nicknamed the area “The Valley of the Hawks”. Among the birds that live in the area, it is also possible to find the raven, the solitary sparrow, the wallcreeper, the kingfisher, the bee-eater, the European roller and the white-throated dipper.
Out of the countless species that make up the fauna of Bosco Rocconi, some are of European Community interest such as the northern spectacled salamander (a species found only in Italy), the Italian crested newt and the four-lined snake, and there are mammals such as wild cats, martens, badgers and, sometimes, even wolfs. There are also numerous reptiles, including Western whip snake, grass snake, viper and Hermann’s tortoise. Among the amphibians, in addition to the toad and the green frog, there are the smooth newt and the agile frog.
In spring and summer, Rocconi’s oasis is enriched with a thousand colors of many butterflies. Among these, deserves a mention the rare Italian Festoon, whose caterpillar is only nourished by Aristolochia, a very localized plant. Inside the many caves, a truly interesting troglofauna lives, with increasingly rare bats such as the Mediterranean horseshoe bat, and with endemic insects such as the Etruscan Cave-cricket, characterized by an abnormal development of the rear legs and the antennas. In the clean and cold waters of Albegna river, the barbel, the vairone, the Minnow-nase and the chub live, and the presence of potamon fluviatile, a freshwater crab, is also abundant.
In short, if you love nature and lesser-known tourist spots, Bosco Rocconi in Tuscany is certainly worth a visit. The oasis is open all year round, on Saturdays and Sundays, exclusively by reservation and with a WWF guide. The main path is 3 km long for about 3-4 hours walk and with a height difference of 200 meters, but it’s possible to organize personalized routes and thematic visits. For more information, you can send an email to boscoroccconi@wwf.it.