A beautiful and dense pine forest surrounds the upper part of Villacidro and completely covers the slopes of Mount Omo and Mount Cuccureddu, on which the town rests.
The mantle of pines is a tribute to the immense environmental sacrifice that this land, like the whole of Sardinia, had to endure in past centuries. These mountains were once covered with Mediterranean scrub and forests of holm oaks and cork oaks that were completely destroyed during the Savoy reign; the wood served to fuel the melting furnaces of the nearby foundry, active from 1743 to 1806.
In 1888, the Villacidro Administration decided to restore the mountains to their ancient appearance and to protect the town from the harsh weather conditions, which deforestation had greatly exacerbated, by planting 500 pines. Pine was chosen for its rapid growth, because it is a tree with very light wood and, above all, because it has wood that is not good for burning, in memory of the sacrifice of the forests that went up in smoke in the past.
