Sirente-Velino area falls under the protection of Sirente-Velino Regional Park. The park was set up under Regional Law 54/1989 of Abruzzo regional government, then further amended under Regional Law 23/2000.
Sirente-Velino Regional Park covers about 55,000 ha and is concentrated on Mt. Velino (2,486 m) and Mt. Sirente (2,348 m). It ranges from 600 m to 2,500 m above sea level. The karst area enables rivers and lakes to be better localised on the surface. The open areas, mostly pasture lands, cover about 59%, while about 24% is forest. This is made of beechwood (7.44%), hardwood forest (15.19%), where downy oak, hornbeam, manna ash are prevalent, and the remaining 1.1% of lands reforested with black pine. The remaining 17% (approximately) consists of rocky areas (1.4 %), farmlands (14.68%) and urban areas (0.95%). Many types of habitat are to be pointed out there, several of which listed in Annex I to Directive 92/43 EEC.
The park overlaps with ZPS IT7100130 and includes Velino-Sirente massif with its ranges and single mountains, as well as karst plateaux, wide valleys and gorges. Besides a wide range of habitats, this environmental area also hosts a rich ornithofauna, and especially large mammals that are evidence of the high complex ecosystems still existing in this area. The landscape value is particularly important too. Other significant flora and fauna species are: for plants, Astragalus auilanus, Goniolimn italicum; for amphibians and reptiles, Bombina pachipus, Triturus carnifex, Salamandrina terdigidata, Vipera ursiniii, Elaphe quatoprlineata; for birds, Aquila chrysaetos, Falco biarmicus, Gyps fulvus, Falco peregrinus, Alectoris greca saxatilis, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, Bubo, bubo; for mammals: Chionomys nivalis, Hystrix cristata, Felis silvestris.
Sirente-Velino Regional Park falls under Italian Action Plan for the Apennine chamois conservation in the areas suitable for hosting a new colony of its species. The birth of this colony was due to actions carried out under recent Life Coornata Project.
