Places that are “linked” in space and/or time with the birdlife samples in the NHM collections and the environment, as described herein.
MUSEUMS
Allerona (Terni province) Geological Museum and Record Centre. A large space in the building is dedicated to geological and biological evolution in the Allerona area and to the contemporary environment, flora and fauna (including birdlife) that are found in the area. Most of the contemporary section focuses on the typical badlands of the clay and sand hills around Allerona, Fabro and Ficulle (TR).
The Mount Rufeno Nature Reserve and Alfina Tower Flower Museum (Acquapendente, Viterbo province). This museum is in a large country house that is situated deep in the woods covering the Alfina Tower hills. Set up on the basis of innovative museum criteria with many interactive spaces, it holds a rich collection of dried local flora and a special section on the diverse environments and fauna, including birdlife, of the Monte Rufeno Nature Reserve. They are typically found in the interesting northern Lazio area, which borders south-west Umbria (BoschidellaSelva di Meana, Allerona, Terni).
Territorial System of Natural and Environmmental Interests. This vast protected area extends from Peglia Mountain to the valleys and low-relief hills that mark the western border of Umbria with northern Lazioand southern Tuscany. The area contains some very diverse environments with the ravines in the Ficulle, Fabro and Allerona (Terni) areas arousing particular interest.
NATURE RESERVES
Mount Rufeno Nature Reserve. This protected area lies in the far north of Lazio, on the Umbria-Tuscany border. It safeguards a wide range of environments, enclosing the low foothills of the Apennines in central Italy at the latitude of the Tyrrhenian Sea, woods of deciduous hardwood trees, Mediterranean scrubland, arid grasslands and the River Paglia wetlands.
Lucciolabella Nature Reserve. This protected area is situated in the Upper Orcia Valley in Pienzatownland, Siena province. It encloses some of the most interesting and beautiful badlands and bare rounded hills in the whole of central Italy and forms part of a much larger territory that UNESCO has declared a World Heritage Cultural Landscape. As a whole, the reserve guarantees adequate protection of its badland morphology and the rich deposits of Pliocene marine fossils that are found in its eroded soils. It is a refuge for not a few plant and animal species that are linked to this type of dry, open terrain. It constitutes an admirable “cultural landscape” as it was a source of inspiration for the great artists of Medieval and Renaissance Tuscany, particularly those belonging to the “School of Siena”. It also inspires contemporary artists, such as, for example, the famous cartoonist Andrea Pazienza.
