The volcanic area is very fertile firstly because the lava deposited on the soil, as time going by, releases many nutrients such as mineral salts, and secondly, because the lava-submerged plants become natural fertilisers for the soil.

The vegetation varies depending on the altitude. At the foot  of the volcano, orange, mandarin, lemon, olive, agave, Indian fig, banana, eucalyptus, palm, pine trees  grow in abundance, not excluding the vine trees from which an excellent wine is produced.

From 500m grow hazelnut, almond, pistachios chestnut trees to then give way to oaks, beeches, birches, pines and of course the renowned Etna broom. The real attraction of this area are the birches that began to grow here after an usually glacial period. The birch loves the sun, lives solitarily or in a small groups and is often found in forests of altitude amongst other plants such as the broad-leaf and conifer trees. It prefers arid, bare and acid lands with a reliable water source and it is very frost-proof. During the winter the birch stands out for its white and bare trunk that contrasts with the blue sky where as in the spring it turns light green and stands out from the black lava.
Beyond 2100 meters of altitude begins the semi-desert zone where the Holy Thorn (Spino Santo, the Astragalus siculus) can be found, a small thorny shrub, often found amongst a multicoloured endemic variety of violets, groundsels and other flowers that grow on the slopes of secondary craters.

Towards the highest peaks there is so-called volcanic desert where the snow and the fresh lava prevent the growth of any type of macroscopic vegetation.  

The area provides shelter for a varied fauna including small mammals (porcupines, foxes, wild cats, weasels, martens, dormice), birds (kestrels, buzzards, finches, woodpeckers, hoopoes), reptiles (including the viper) and insects. Indeed, the area is home to many butterflies among which the eye-catching Aurora of the Etna (Anthocharis damone).