Celebrating 100 Years of the Abruzzo, Molise & Lazio National Park

On the main side of the coin, there will be a graphic composition of the park’s endangered flora and fauna.   Scarpetta di Venere orchids, the Apennine chamois, the golden eagle and the  Marsican brown bear all feature. Mount Meta is shown in the background, one of the highest peaks of the Marsicani Mountains, in the Abruzzo Apennines.

On the back, the park logo is decorated with beech leaves that characterise the vast forest that cover the mountains and the high rocky grasslands by the artist Antonio Vecchio.  Keep your eyes peeled, no official date has been given as to when they will become available in 2023 but they are sure to be popular with collectors!

This fabled park was central to securing the legal protection of wolves throughout Italy and a law on hunting in 1976.  In the park, for the first time, three scientists, the Roman Luigi Boitani, the German Erik Zimen and the American David Mech, managed to capture a wolf and track it via a radio collar.  For months, they followed that specimen, no mean feat as it was long before GPS.  They took it in turns to follow the beep and wander, at dawn and in the dark penetrating the primaeval aura of the forests under the moon and stars when the mists allowed.  Through their study, they were able to banish superstitions and the taboos that were connected with wolves and ensure they became a protected species.

Our Marsican bear will always be under threat due to its dwindling genetic pool that makes it susceptible to disease, but being able to celebrate our bears today alive in the forests, with a slowly growing population is something not to take lightly.  Here’s to another 100 years of the Abruzzo, Molise and Lazio National Park and healthy co-existence.