Bordering the parks of the Garfagnana and Frignano areas, the territory of Ovovia is populated by animals characteristic of protected nature reserves; It's often possible to see the majestic Golden Eagle which nests in the nearby Orrido di Botri area gliding over vast areas of land with its characteristic flight, hunting the marmots and small mammals which are his usual prey.

The higher altitudes are inhabited by numerous colonies of Marmots that peek out from their dens.

Most common and widespread in the area are Roe and Fallow Deer, Beech Martens, Weasels, Wild Boar, Badgers, Foxes, Squirrels, Hares and various species of Dormice including the tiny Hazel Dormouse.

At the highest altitudes you will find the snow vole, a small rodent with thick fur, which is active in winter under snow cover and runs a network of tunnels which only become visible when the spring thaw sets in.

Among the most common birds of prey are the Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard.

Inhabitants of the tall treed forests are the Goshawk, which prefers to nest in large mature conifer forests, the Marten, which tends his traps, climbing trees, and even Squirrels and Dormice. At lower altitudes, where the beech gives way to old chestnut trees full of nooks and crannies, the Tawny Owl nests and you may even find from time to time an old crow's nest that has been borrowed by a lazy Common Owl.

Flora

(Text provided by the Botanical Gardens of Sestaione)

Walking along the paths leading from Ovovia, we can see many plants that have been catalogued and conserved at the Botanical Gardens of Sestaione in their natural habitat.

The Forest Zone

The main entrance leads to the Forest Garden: a downhill trail through a mixed forest of Beech (Fagus sylvatica) and Silver Fir (Abies alba).

In addition to these two, other tree species are present in this, the first part of the forest. At the beginning of the trail there are some fine examples of Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and various exotic species which are widely used for the production of timber. You will also find some Alpine Laburnum (Laburnum alpinum), Goat Willow (Salix caprea) and Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) making random appearances.

Finally, especially along the last part of the path, you can see examples of the Norway or European Spruce (Picea abies), a plant of particular interest in this area for the existence, in the nearby forest of Campolino, of the last remaining relict Apennine population in the wild. (For further information on this please refer to the Riserva Naturale Orientata di Campolino).

Halfway down, a detour to the right allows you to go down to the Sestaione Creek, which is dominated by lush vegetation.

The trail ends at the lodge at which point it opens up into a vast clearing where several other characteristic environments typical of our mountains have been recreated.

The Sandstone Roccaglia
 
The dominant geological formation throughout the Pistoian Apennines is sandstone: This is a siliceous rock whose degradation tends to give rise to acidic soils. Ericacious or "acid-loving" plants represent the majority of species in our mountains. The sandstone roccaglia rebuilt here contains a high percentage of grasses and shrubs that we commonly encounter when hiking. A good reason why this area is one of the most extensive and important of all the Botanical Gardens.

Among the plants that live at an altitude where trees can still grow, we find the Yellow Foxglove (Digitalis lutea), Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna), Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), and Willow Gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea).
 
The most interesting plants are those that are still closely linked to the alpine flora: they descended South during the last Ice Age and remain today in the higher areas of the Northern Apennines. 

In this regard we have especially to look at autumnal flora to indicate what contingent of plants that are found in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines (in particular at Abetone pass and in Corno alle Scale) are at the southern limit of their range, disappearing abruptly from peaks immediately to the South: some examples are the Alpine Sow-Thistle (Cicerbita alpina), Austrian Leopard's Bane (Doronicum austriacum), Purple Gentian (Gentiana purpurea), Alpenrose (Rhododendron ferrugineum) and Parsley Fern (Cryptogramma crispa), although there are many others too.  

The Plants of the Blueberry Heath
 
In an area adjacent to the paved road are gathered some plants typical of the blueberry heath (vaccinieto), in particular, there are only three species of blueberry present in our mountains: The Common Blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), Fake Blueberry (Vaccinium gaultherioides), which bears a striking resemblance to the common variety, but is inedible and Cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), which is edible but extremely rare.

In addition to blueberries, Alpine St. John's Wort (Hypericum richeri) is very common in high mountains with its distinctive yellow flowers, also Heather (Calluna vulgaris), Mountain Crowberry (Empetrum hermaphroditum) with its black berries bearing a similarity to blueberries, and finally four very similar, small, archaic plants, which are relics of flora once much more widespread but which are now extremely rare: Fir Club-Moss (Huperzia selago), Bristly Club-Moss (Lycopodium annotinum), Common Club-Moss (Lycopodium clavatum) and rarest of all, Alpine Club-Moss (Diphasium alpinum).

The Limestone Roccaglia

In some areas of the mountains of Pistoia, the mainly acidic geological substratum is enriched significantly by another type of rock: limestone. It never appears as a pure outcrop of calcareous rocks, but rather is interspersed with layers of sand or clay. Only in the nearby Lima valley or the Orrido di Botri (belonging to the province of Lucca), do we find extensive outcrops of limestone that are more or less pure.

However, this is sufficient to sustain many 'calcareous' species in the Pistoian Apennines, i.e. species preferring alkaline soils instead of acidic ones. For this reason it was a must to create within the Garden an area that could accommodate a number of these plants. 

Particularly interesting are Silvery Crane's Bill (Geranium argenteum), an alpine species present in the vast biocoenosis of Monte Cimone and on a few other peaks, Apennine Globularia (Globularia incanescens), also present sporadically on the main reliefs (Monte Gomito, Corno alle Scale ...) small Fairies Thimbles (Campanula cochleariifolia), viewable on Monte Spigolino, the hemispheric "cushions" of Purple Mountain Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia), and even the rare Alpine Camedrio (Dryas octopetala), Bear's Ear Primrose (Primula auricula), the immortal Cobweb Houseleek (Sempervivum arachnoideum), and the Seraphim Rose (Rosa serafinii), reported near Boscolungo but not recently found.