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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").
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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. |
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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. |
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