Poverella Villaggio Mancuso
Region: Calabria
Province: Catanzaro
Municipality: Taverna, Albi
Institutional Measure: Agriculture and Forests Ministerial Decree, July 13th 1977
Other Classifications: part of Sila National Park – Biogenetic Natural Reserve
Geographical Location: Sila Piccola
Height: 850-1.280 m. a. s.-l.
Spreading: 1.086 hectares

The Reserve shows a limited wavy and steep morphology. Its geology is characterized by metamorphic archaic rocks dating back to the middle Permian period made up of gneiss and granite mica schists. The average yearly precipitations are around 1.300 mm. the average yearly temperature is about 10 °C, climate is typical of the Mediterranean area, rainy in autumn-winter and heat in the summer months.
Flora and vegetation: the forest populations vary according to altitude, from the evergreen oaks to the deciduous ones, from pure larch pine woods to beech woods with rare presences of silver fir. Other secondary species are: black alder, maple, chestnut tree and aspen. From the point of view of the activity of bio-diversity protection it is worth to stress the typical presence of the “cultivar vutullo” Calabrian larch pine, characterized by thicker duramen and cylindrical trunks. Among the brusher there are the hawthorn, the bramble rose, the butcher’s broom, the elder and other secondary species.

Fauna: among the mammals, the most important one is canis lupus [the wolf] of course which has been endangered until some year ago; today, the population of wolfs is increasing. Othercommon mammals are the capreolus capreolus [roe] and sus scrofa [wild noar] and among the middle and small sized mammals: scuirus vulgaris [squirrel], lepus capenis [hare], felis silvestris [wildcat], vulpes vulpes [fox], meles meles [badger], martes martes [marten], m. foina [stone marten], mustela putorius [polecat]. The presence of a little rodent belonging to the gliridae family has great importance, the dryomys nitedula [species of dormouse], typical of arctic areas but living isolated in Calabria in the aspromontis sub-species. Among the nesting birds there are: accipiter gentilis [goshawk], accipiter nirus [sparrow-hawk], pernis apivorus [hawk], bueo buteo [buzzard], dryocopus martius [black woodpecker], columba palumbus [wood pigeon], otus scops [missel], jynx torquilla [wryneck], Picoides major [major red woodpecker], turdus viscivorus [missel], regulus ignicapillus [firecrest] parus palustris [marsh tit], phylloscopus sibilatrix [green chiffchaff], sitta europaea [nuthatch], oriolus oriolus [golden oriole], lanius collurio [little shrike]. Some of these species, such as the regulus regulus [golden-crested wren], carduelis spinus [siskin] and the loxia curvirostra [crossbill], which usually nest at higher latitudes, find a suitable habitat inside the Reserve and their preferred area on the Silan Plateau.