The Santa Teresa and Lucci Woods reserve are what remains of the cork wood. Cork oaks are important in this area because of their rarity along the Italian Adriatic coast; the brushwood comprising typical species of the Mediterranean maquis that live nowhere else in the Salento peninsula. The Lucci woods are one of the few safe havens for many animal species and this reserve is home to various species and habitats of special interest so is included in the Italian list of sites of Community importance.
