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RISERVA NATURALE ORIENTATA DELLO ZINGARO
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| 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.
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| 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. |
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