Sustainable management of the southern coast of Lampedusa

The “Isola di Lampedusa” Nature Reserve, established by the Sicilian Region in 1984, was entrusted in 1996 to Legambiente Sicilia, which has the task of promoting scientific research, the protection of natural environments and the dissemination of knowledge of natural assets. The Nature Reserve is an area of great naturalistic and landscape value, extending over 367 hectares along the southern coastal strip of the island of Lampedusa (AG). The Nature Reserve falls within two Sites of the Natura 2000 Network: the SPA ITA040002 "Islands of Lampedusa and Lampione" and the SPA ITA 040013 "Pelagie Archipelago - marine and terrestrial area" both regulated by the "Pelagie Islands" Management Plan, drawn up by Legambiente Sicilia and approved by the Environment Department of the Sicilian Region in 2010 and by the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of the Land and Sea in 2015.
In the protected area live some species of extraordinary naturalistic value, endemic to the island or highly restricted in this area, often are endangered species. The Nature Reserve includes the “Spiaggia dei Conigli”, a sandy coastal environment of considerable naturalistic interest because it is one of the main Italian sites where regular oviposition occurs of the sea turtle Caretta caretta.
The Nature Reserve is one of the main tourist attractions of the Island, and it was saved from uncontrolled and aggressive mass tourism and the related factors of degradation also through various projects carried out with EU financial resources (FESR, LIFE).
To maintain the environmental, cultural and economic value of the Nature Reserve the actions being led by Legambiente Sicilia include: pedestrianization of the paths and prohibition of transit to motorized vehicles; creation of mandatory trails to avoid trampling on the habitats and to guarantee their diffusion; issuing of a specific rule to control use, providing for as well as the complete closure of the beach in the evening and night hours during the reproduction period of Caretta caretta; renaturalization of areas, previously damaged, through the planting of native species characteristic of the garrigue and Mediterranean scrub; reduction in the number of beach users, in order to further reduce impacts on habitats and species and guarantee a more rewarding and aware experience of the naturalistic values of a protected natural area; information and awareness actions also with the help of volunteer camps in which hundreds of young people participate.