“Botanic Garden of Cupone” Path – Municipality of Spezzano della Sila (CS)The Visitor Centre, which is located in Cupone site and was set by fitting the spaces surrounding a State sawmill and those of secondary complexes, is today a centre for environmental education, having natural paths, fauna observatories, museum, geological garden and a botanic garden open to blinds which are equipped with panels and mp3 audio files explaining the different essences.(scarica i files audio part 1, part 2, part 3).All that, together with the contiguous equipped area for picnics along Cecita Lake, makes the Visitor Centre one of the most patronized places inside the National Park. The access to “I Giganti della Sila” [The Giants of Sila] is allowed on foot only from June to October, following a mandatory path which is suitable for disabled persons too. The State Forestry Department provides the free guide-service for school groups and for all those who make a request.

The didactical path of the Botanic Garden of Cupone reserved to visually handicapped persons and blinds spreads for 350 m. along wood sleepers bordered by a fence with banister. The typical landscape is that of Sila and the plant species you find here are 115 native specimens of the Calabrian mountain flora – from the “potentilla” to Calabrian “astragalo” – which are placed in the ground or in some trays, depending on their size and kind. All plants are supplied with Braille cards, with marked characters for visually handicapped persons. The Botanic Garden takes up an area of 10.400 s. m., almost totally flat, and it has been set inside the State Forests which are part of Sila National Park.

It is located at 1156 m. a.s.-l. and numbers the native essential flora of the Park territory. The Botanic Garden has still a damp area, as well as a rocky formation showing the typical vegetation of the Silan plateau, which is characterized by larch pine, in the southern area, and by beech and silver fir northwards, among rare granite rocks. The paths is well equipped in order to be covered by both physically and sensory handicapped persons; in particular by paraplegics, blinds and visually handicapped persons. In fact, along the path these persons are driven by a banister which cover the whole path on its left side where, together with the vegetal species, there are suitable signs, written cards in Braille, cards with marked characters and areas for stops. At the entrance, there is a marble reproduction of the whole area, in order to make easy the localization of the structures. The adaptation works of these structures to the needs of handicapped persons have been carried out thanks to the prominent contribution given by the Environment Department of the Province of Cosenza and the members of the Blinds Provincial Association of Cosenza.