|
|
| >> Riserva Naturale Orientata dello
Zingaro |
|
|
| The 1.620 hectares of "Lo
Zingaro" extend in one of the most evocative landscapes of Sicily,
in a piece of land which, advancing in the south Tyrrhenian sea, closes
on the west side the Gulf of Castellammare. It is the first natural
reserve instituted in Sicily (6 May 1981), it is more than seven kilometers
long and spreads along the coast. It is situated in one of the few
still integral places in all the Island. It includes mountains which
rise from the sea, covered by paths which lead the visitor to the
discover of landscapes of incomparable beauty, in which the particular
light makes the vegetation's and rocks' colors brighter, in opposition
to the various bleu-sea tones of the coast. Inaccessible precipices
on which "Pistacia Lentisca" and heathers, brooms and "Euphorbia",
Oleasters (Olea Oleaster) and "Terebinti", survivors of
that Mediterranean bush that once covered all the territory, give
shelter to Hawks, Buzzards, Kestrels, Swifts and Imperials Crows.
|
| In the reserve there are more than 800 species
of plants of great naturalistic and landscape interest. Among them
the "Limonio Flagellare" (typical of the north west coast
of Sicily) and the "Sea fennel", which take root among the
cliffs near the sea, the "Dianthus", the "Bluebottle
of Sicily", the "Snapdargon" and the "Rocky starlet",
which give color to higher zones. |
| On the less accessible cliffs do live the
most important species: a very particular flora, represented by a
limited number of plants, which is still integral for the inaccessibility
of the places in which it grows: the "Erba Perla", the "Vilucchio
Turco", the "Perlina di Boccone" and the rare "Limonio
di Todaro". But the most widespread plant is the "dwarf
palm", which reaches here remarkable dimensions: in addition
to "Ampelodesma" (the "DISA"), in some zones it
is so thick that the landscape has got the typical aspect of the praierie.
It is the "Gariga", an area, which is the result of the
millenarian man's action, originally populated by thick mediterranean
bush. Numerous are the "Orchidee Terricole" that together
with "Iris", "Zafferani", "Poppies"
and "Ranuncoli" give color to the various zones of the reserve
in spring. An isolated aspect are the valley depressions of Monte
Acci (the zone of "gorghi tondi", where the vegetation,
mostly composed by rushes and sedges, creates an ideal atmosphere
for the "Discoglosso" - a small amphibian which is typical
of Sicily and it's similar to the frog - and the "river crab").
Interesting are the northern slopes of "Monte Passo di Lupo",
where there is a wall covered by a plurisecular plant of "Ivy"
and some fragments of an ilex and a cork-tree forest, survivor of
a wood, which was anciently extended on an immense area of the High
"Zingaro". In the reserve, more than 40 species of birds
nidificate, others hibernate or stop for a while during the migrations.
Here the most present bird is "the Bonelli Eagle" (one of
rarest italian bird of prey), whose presence has been one of the main
reasons for the institution of the reserve. It is regularly reproduced
nidificating on the high walls of the high zones. |
| Another inhabitant of "Lo
Zingaro" is the "Greek Partridge of Sicily" - an endemic
species nearly extinguished in the province of Trapani - which from
the reserve has begun to repopulate the neighbouring areas. There
can also be met the "Wren", the "Occhiocotto",
the "Sparrow Hermit", the "Nightingale", the "Bunting"
and the "Stonechat". Frequent is also the "Porcupine"
whose presence is testified by the pricks that can be found along
the less attended paths. |
| Other representatives of the
reserve's fauna are the Fox, the Weasel and the Owl (night bird of
prey, typical of the forests that has perfectly adapted to this area),
the Wild Rabbit, and some reptiles such as the Viper, the "Saettone",
the "Biacco" and the Sicialian Lizard. The predators' presence
carries out a balancing function keeping under control the increment
of the species that live in the reserve, especially of the rabbit
and the snakes. The undersea landscape is a continue sequence of colors
and shapes. In the rocky walls covered by algae, anemones and madrepores,
small fish having the most colorful liveries of the undercoast swim.
Deep, where the sponges are more frequent, it is possible to find
some isolated red coral colonies, while clouds of shrimps similar
to crystal splinters hover in the numerous submarine coves. The human
presence has always been something constant in "Lo Zingaro".
Here, man has always lived becoming integrated in the natural atmosphere.
Hunter and binder at the beginning, he has developed, during the millenia,
an agricultural activity in harmony with the atmosphere, testified
by the presence of isolated settlements and of structures linked to
economic activities. |
| Endemic plants as the "DISA" (Ampelodesma
tenax) and the "dwarf palm" (Chamaerops humilis) called
"scupazzu", have been used until few decades ago, to make
brooms, ropes and hampers, while the Almond tree, the Carob-tree,
the Olive-tree, the Vines, the Ash-tree (extracted through transversal
cuts on the bark and sold all over the island as sweetener and for
its light laxative effect) and the Sumach [Rhus coriaria] (from which
the tannin for the skins' tannery is obtained) have been introduced
in various periods. The first human settlements go back to the Superior
Palaeolithic (60.000- 15.000 b.C.) when small groups of hunters-binders
had founded here a place which was rich of game and plants, and settled
down in the many coves, which formed thausends of years before for
the erosion of the sea when, during the several phases of the glaciations,
the sea level was higher. These coves had already been shelter for
the big mammals that inhabited Sicily, at that time: Elephants and
Rhinoceroses, but also Lions, Deers, wild Oxes and Boars. Between
them the big Cove of "Lo Zingaro", inhabited until few decades
ago by shepherds who used it as ovile during the transhumance periods.
During the prehistoric era, it was probably a cult place where magic
or religious rites were carried out and where, along the inner edges,
the dead men were buried. In its inside one of the most important
funeral structures in Europe belonging to the Mesolithic period (12.000-8.000
b.C.) has been found. Moreover, fragments of ceramics of various type
going back to the neolithic age (5.000-4.000 b.C.) have been found.
During this period, agriculture borns and the sheep-farming activity
starts to be practised. Other finds belong to the age of bronze (2000
b.C.), to the VI century a.C. and to the Roman-byzantine period. |
| The presence of the houses and other buildings
are the symbol of the human evolution: "Borgo Cusenza",
a group of rural houses near "Monte Passo del Lupo", and
some scattered structures which are in C/da Sughero and C/da Zingaro,
were inhabited until some decades ago and were used for agricultural
works and jobs regarding the sheep-farming field; the Tower of Uzzo,
along the coast of the area having the same name, built in the XVI
century with military functions, to which later on small structures
of agricultural use have been added; the Tonnarella of Uzzo, which
worked until last century having a function of support to the more
important tunny-fishing structure of Scopello. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
Scopello 