The Portofino Park is a remarkable demonstration of fusion between the natural environment and human activities, and offers landscapes in which there is a continuous alternation of natural ecosystems and crops, with a rich variety of environments .
The presence of man is manifested both in the centuries-old works and cultivations carried out, such as dry stone walls and terraces (known with the dialectal term of bands) necessary for the cultivation of vegetable gardens and especially of the olive tree, and in the presence of small villages and towns , set in the natural landscape.
The realization of the terraces evolved at the same time as the development of the olive grove, with vegetable gardens on the foot in typical "mixed" seasonal crops, especially on the east and west sides and around the village of San Fruttuoso, still characterizing the landscape.
The presence of man and his activities is evident not only in the main towns but also in small villages such as, for example, San Rocco di Camogli, San Nicolò, Nozarego , San Sebastiano.
Specific artifacts dedicated to agricultural activities, such as mills and oil mills , of which there is a significant concentration in the Valle dei Mulini, above the inhabited nucleus of Paraggi, are today an important document of rural archeology.
The protection and use of the territory by man did not however prevent the maintenance of a high naturalness, with the presence of numerous Mediterranean ecosystems, such as scrub and holm oak, and more continental climates, such as the forest mixed mesophilic, that is, with medium humidity requirements.
The importance of the link between man and the environment, within the territory of the Portofino Park, is underlined by the establishment, among the first in Italy, of a protected area since 1935.