Nagy-mező, Arany-hegy Nature Reserve
This 101-hectere section of Mecsek Mountains stretching between Hosszúhetény and Pécsvárad, and including formerly declared nature conservation sites of local importance, is under protection owing to its extraordinary botanical values.
The dry woodland and grassland patches stretching at the southern foot of the Zengő Mountain have survived in a very fragmented mosaic form interspersed among cultivated areas such as arable lands, vineyards and orchards (e.g. almond orchards). However, the hills less suitable for agricultural management (Hideg Hill, Illés Hill, Nagy-mező, Arany-hegy Hill, Nádasd hilltop, Butyka Hill, Pavojda) have preserved dry oak woods, steppe meadows and dry grasslands where the species of plants are not only rare but also fascinate the visitor with their abundance. More than thirty protected plant species occur in the Nagy-mező, Arany-hegy Nature Reserve. One can find the strictly protected Banat peony, the rare red varieties of elder-flowered orchid, and in early spring you can admire the weeping, fluffy flowers of black pasque-flower. There are no hiking trails leading across the protected nature reserve.
Declared to be protected: 26/1996. (X.9.) KTM r.
Size of the protected area: 101 ha