SOME HISTORY
The Nature Park of Bosco di Tecchie was officially opened on 22nd May 1986 after a long battle involving the municipality of Cantiano, the main Nature Associations of the area, the Comunità Montana of Catria and Nerone and the Province of Pesaro and Urbino. Credit must be given to the Municipality for having achieved an ambitious project from a cultural, scientific and naturalist point of view.
The Bosco di Tecchie has become increasingly well-known thanks also to publicity campaigns such as “1000 lire for paradise” and is visited by tourists, students and researchers who admire its majesty and magical atmosphere. In 2004 the Provincial Administration, which owns an interesting part of the Park and the rural building Ca' Tecchie, obtained a commodate from the municipality for the other acres of the wood and commenced a restructuring of the area. They redefined and indicated trails which could be used by visitors, re-organised the botanic garden and the area in front of the building Ca' di Tecchie. Today, more than twenty years after the opening of the park, there are structural elements which can guarantee and promote educational programmes taking place in the beautiful rural building recently renovated by the Province and enriched by the “Garden of trees and shrubs”. The activities planned and carried out within this splendid territory have given rise to the opportunity to redefine the surrounding area thus bringing the conservation of nature alongside the use of resources


THE PARK
In these meadows many kinds of orchid can be observed. Nearly all the trails cross small ditches whilst the lowest point of the Park is marked by the rapidly flowing main torrent: water is a symbol of life and permeates rocks, mosses and grass. In the late spring, tadpoles emerge from frogs’ eggs. Here it is possible to see the rare Spectacled Salamander (Salamandrina terdigitata] and the characteristic Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra] which need, as well as clean water, a green forest rich in moist soil, full of refuges and with dead trees on the ground. However the Tecchie wood is especially well-known for the numerous kinds of mushrooms that grow there which include the much sought after Summer Ceps (Boletus aestivaiis). Attention should also be drawn to a peculiar ear-shaped mushroom called VHirneola auricola.
Animals include the fox, marten, weasel, buzzard, kestrel, owl, barn owl, wild cat and wolf, and their presence indicates the availability of prey such as hares, squirrels, dormice, wild rats and water voles. The presence of woodpeckers is significant and is due to the abundance of mature trees and dried plants. Especially significant is the Green Woodpecker [Picus viridis] which can be seen flying swiftly under the leafy vault of the oaks or be heard pecking on dead trees.