Oasi xerotermica di Puys, 10056 Oulx
The pine forest along the bed of the Dora di Bardonecchia, on the right orographic slope, is known to hikers and MTB enthusiasts for the presence of the so-called "cross-country track": a beautiful trail, almost always flat, that connects the town of Oulx with that of Beaulard and continues beyond, up to the hamlet of Royeres.
It is in this second section, from 1,150 meters, from the houses of Beaulard, up to 2,600 meters above the Soullier granges where 462 hectares of forest habitat are found, represented by Scots pine woods, then larch, ascending to Swiss pine, shrublands with rhododendron, and spruce forests, with a core of silver fir.
However, this site is not identified for its Alpine forest habitats, but rather for the characteristic exposure of the plateau where the settlement of Puy Beaulard is located, around which the meadows are composed of botanical species typical of dry, steppe, and sub-Mediterranean environments, hence the name that designates it as an "xerothermic oasis".
The splendid orchid blooming makes these meadows a priority habitat for the European Directive, and the maintenance of these species is linked to the proper practice of mowing the meadows.
Puy Beaulard is also the only site in Italy for a species of beetle, Acmaeops marginatus, and for a nocturnal moth linked to the presence of hawthorn bushes, Aglaope infausta, which curiously has almost black wings in the adult form, while as a caterpillar it is colorful and multicolored.
