In the foothills are 18 communities with a population of 15,460. Until 1989, the main land use was forestry and sheep grazing. There is a high biodiversity of flora, represented by 1400 species, including many indigenous of the Balkan Peninsula.

Most of the area (80%) belongs to the state, 11% belongs to local communities, and the rest is private. The management authority is the Forest Service, with local Forest Directorates and District Forest offices. Forest exploitation is carried out by local workers’ cooperatives and the annual timber production, according to data from the Forest Directorate of Pella  amounts to 110,000 m3.

The most common forest species, from low to high altitudes are shown in Table 1. Single trees and stands of the rare species Pinus peuce Griseb. are found at higher elevations. Beech forests that mainly form the timberline cover most of the area. Above the timberline are extensive sub-alpine grasslands, with scattered low bushes of 

Other species found in the area, such as 

Mount Voras is very important because of its 119 bird species, of which 105 are nesting. Twenty-eight bird species are referred to in Annex I of EU 79/409 Directive, 39 are species of European Conservation Concern, and 15 are included in the Red Data Book of Endangered Vertebrates of Greece. Mount Voras forms a representative, extensive, and uninterrupted forest ecosystem for the avifauna and is an important area for bird species with a limited presence in Greece. 

Such species include 

Moreover, 

Mount Voras hosts 19 species of birds of prey (11 nesting) and 9 species of woodpeckers.
Due to its great ornithological importance, the entire area has been included in the EU Network of Special Protection Areas, in accordance with Directive 79/409.