Flora & Fauna

The great variety of wild flowers and plants in Val Gardena are a delight to the eye. The two thousend metres of vertical height from Rio Gardena to the moutnain peaks, and the combination of dolomitic, limestone and volcanic soils are the key to the exciting diversity in the alpine flora of this region.

At lower altitudes there are cool woods of tall spruce and larch, with the occasional alder, sycamore and birch growing along the course of Rio Gardena, while stands of stone pine are to be found up to a height of 2.100 m above sea-level.
Dwarf pines and juniper bushes are also common, but the most striking sight is doubtless the hairy Alpine rose, a dwarf rhododendron that colonises whole mountain slopes of limestone and dolomite debris. Meadow flowers are most abundant where fertiliser is used most sparingly. There you will find numerous compositae, campanulae, papilionaceae, buttercups as well as many different grasses, and forage and fodder plants. The mountain flora, comprising mainly small but very blossomy flowering plants is concentrated in the corries, on scree slopes, and on the banks of the mountain streams.
It includes a variety of primulae, the snow-white leopard’s bane, the radiant auricula and – as the Queen of the alpine flowers – the star-shaped edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum). The pale rock of the mountains is the perfect backcloth to the splashes of colour from the pink Dolomite cinquefoil, the orange-red Rhaetian Alpine poppy, the dark-blue rampion and many others.

The woods, meadows and mountains of Val Gardena have lots more surprises in store for the quiet and considerate walker and nature-lover: from the courtship display of the blackcock down in Vallunga to the Alpine choughs that come begging for food during your well deserved rest at the mountain summit.

The most common representatives of the regional fauna are doubtless the chamois and the marmot. In the Puez area, in particular, herds of chamois are a common sight. The marmot digs its burrows on sunny slopes and can be found in many places, not just on Alpe di Cisles. Where there are marmots, the golden eagle is never far away. And an encounter with a deer or hare is nothing unusual, especially early in the morning.

The flower-filled meadows are the ideal place to see a variety of songbirds, like the redstart, finches, thrush, lark and tits. For the ornithologist, conditions are ideal for observing the rarer species in their natural habitat, such as the eagle-owl, the screech owl or the sparrowhawk. Woodpeckers are a frequent sight for the quiet walker, including the spotted and green woodpeckers, although the black woodpecker is the most common.