Sasso Fratino is the first Italian Integral Reserve to be established. Covering an area of almost 800 hectares of outstanding natural beauty, the ancient forest includes huge beech woods which are among the oldest in the region and in Europe, almost 500 years old. It occupies an evocative and impervious corner of the Romagna side of the Casentino Forests where, in 1993, the first National Park in Emilia-Romagna was established. Already in 1959 it was recognized – again a national record – as an integral reserve thanks to the propulsive action of the State Forestry Corps, now the Carabinieri. Its beech trees can be more than four or even five centuries old. For generations of scholars, Sasso Fratino has been a natural laboratory where they can learn how ecosystems work and develop strategies for the conservation of biodiversity. Since last July, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
