Rouvas: Ecologically and aesthetically important

  

The forest of Rouvas is one of the most ecologically important and aesthetically forests of Crete and Greece. Home to rare plants with the dominant oak and animals of the island, which is enhanced by its isolated location in relation to human activities. The forest grows on a small plateau in the south of the Psiloritis Mountains, 55 km south of Heraklion in an inaccessible place, though there are several ways to access it from various places: from Gergeri and the Nida Plateau through a passable dirt road, and walking the path E4, which starts from Zaros Lake, passing through the gorge of Agios Nikolaos and reaches the forest.  

 The prinodasos is the largest colony in Europe  extent of 30000 acres with which  have the following peculiarity: got out of the ordinary bush form and their small size and had different characteristics and sizes of what we're used to seeing. Indeed, some of them are so big and so old that have literally collapse from old age! Also, the forest also hosts two exclusives: the Ampelitsia (Zelkova abelicea), the only tree that lives exclusively in Crete and elsewhere, and one of the rarest orchids in the island, the Cretan kefalanthiro (Cephalanthera Cuculata). Other trees that will be seen a plane, maple, cypress, pine and azilakoi.
As for the fauna, here is a refuge for the Cretan league or fourogatos (Felis silvestris creticus), which is so rare that it has rarely been observed by scientists. Here are other living mammals such as badgers, Zouridi, kalogynaikaria (Musteka nivalis), hares, shrews and pontikoskiouroi (Glis glis argenteus). The forest and the surrounding mountains are home to rare birds of prey like eagles, vitsilia, skares and falcons.

Source: lexifilia.blogspot.gr