La Vall de Gallinera
In 2019, the environmental association Acció Ecologista-Agró bought two plots of land in the shady part of Benirrama to set up a territory stewardship initiative in La Vall de Gallinera.
Along this itinerary one can discover several habitats: tree-shaded ombrophilous thickets, xerophytic Mediterranean pastures and rocky calcareous slopes with chasmophytic vegetation.
There is also an article dedicated to what remains of a forest of Valencian manna ash (Fraxinus ornus) that is preserved by the association in this magical corner of La Vall de Gallinera, which constitutes a plant manifestation as strange as it is valuable within the Iberian context. As a result of this variety of habitats, there is an enormous botanical biodiversity with more than 230 plant species that have been detected.
Of all these species, thirteen stand out in particular due to the fact that they are endemic, rare or threatened plant species. This is the case, for example, of the plants Arenaria valentina, Biscutella montana, Erodium saxatile, Hippocrepis valentina, Linaria depauperata ssp. depauperata and Guillonea scabra, amongst others; botanical treasures that can only be found in the shade of crags and rocky calcareous slopes.
Another botanical treasure of the shady area known as Ombria de Benirrama is Erysimum gomez-campoi, an Iberian endemic plant that is scattered throughout the eastern part of the peninsula, especially in areas with calcareous substrates. Also noteworthy in this corner of La Vall de Gallinera is the presence of Leucanthemum gracilicaule, an endemic daisy that only grows in the south of the province of Valencia and the north of the province of Alicante.