Mont Mars Nature Reserve

An Alpine environment offering a great wealth of flora and fauna

A typically Alpine environment, very natural throughout, boasting woods and grasslands, gravel bars and rock faces, lakes and humid areas. The reserve, which gets its name from Mount Mars, on the watershed between the Valle d'Aosta and the Province of Biella, is enclosed in the valley of the Pacoulla stream and it is characterised by the widespread presence of rock basins, of glacial morphology, arranged in terraces and home to small lakeside basins and peat bogs. The variety of environments and the alternating acidic and basic substrata make for the floristic wealth of the reserve. The subalpine level is dominated by

larches and by an undergrowth of rhododendrons and blueberries, while the humid areas of the lakes are home to sedges and thistles. The pastures are populated with gentians (Genziana purpurea) and arnica (Arnica montana) and, all around Lake Lei Long, Austrian field cress. In the Northern sector, which is calcareous and not easy to explore, you may get the opportunity to see some Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) and the Alpine Columbine (Aquilegia alpina). The fauna is typical of Valle D'Aosta mountain environments. You might see some mountain hares,

chamois, ermines and, among the bird species, golden eagles, wheatears, ptarmigans and ravens. The nature reserve, set up in 1993 and run by the Protected areas service of the Agriculture and natural resources Councillorship, can be reached from Pont-Saint-Martin, along the regional road to Gressoney-Saint-Jean (Municipality of Fontainemore, village of Pillaz).