Two Tuscan parks in the world green list drawn up by IUCN

FLORENCE, ITALY – Two Tuscan parks have been added to the green list drawn up by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. They are the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the national park of the Casentinesi Forests.

The IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas is the first global standard of best practice for area-based conservation. It is a programme of certification for protected and conserved areas – national parks, natural World Heritage sites, community conserved areas, nature reserves and so on – that are effectively managed and fairly governed.

The Italian national park Grand Paradiso is on the list for the third time since 2014. French, Swiss and South Korean parks were also added to the list. The IUCN now lists 59 natural parks and nature reserves in 16 countries.

The Tuscan Archipelago Park

The Tuscan archipelago (chain of islands) is located between the Ligurian Sea (north) and Tyrrhenian Sea (south), in the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian national park protects 56,776 hectares of sea and 17,887 hectares of island habitats.

The Arcipelago Toscano National Park includes the seven main islands of the Tuscan Archipelago: Elba, Isola del Giglio, Capraia, Montecristo, Pianosa, Giannutri, Gorgona and some of the minor islands and rock outcrops.
The highest point in the park is Mount Capanne, at 1,019 metres in elevation, on the island of Elba.

The Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi

The Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna was created in 1993, it covers an area of about 368 square kilometres on the two sides of the Apennine watershed between Romagna and Tuscany, and is divided between the provinces of Forlì Cesena, Arezzo and Florence.

It extends around the long ridge, descending steeply along the parallel valleys of the Romagna side and more gradually on the Tuscan side, which has gentler slopes, especially in the Casentino area, which slopes down gradually to the broad valley of the Arno.