Location: Portoferraio, Tuscany Map
Area: 746.63 km2 (288.28 sq mi)
Arcipelago Toscano National Park that protects an area of Archipelago Toscano is located near town of Portoferraio, Tuscany province of Italy. Arcipelago Toscano National Park covers an area of 746.63 km2 (288.28 sq mi). The most famous island of the Toscano Archipelago is island of Elbe. In 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled here with a personal guard of 600 men after being defeated by Russian Emperor Alexander I and his allies. He did not stick around to enjoy the beautiful landscape and Mediterranean sea. He returned to France to seize back his power for about 100 days before being completely defeated at the battle of Waterloo.
The park has an area of 16,856 hectares on land and
56,766 at sea and is composed of:
all the main islands of the
Tuscan Archipelago
Island of Gorgona
Capraia Island
Elba
island
Pianosa Island
Montecristo Island
Lily island
Giannutri Island
smaller islets in the Piombino Channel:
Palmaiola Island
Cerboli Island
smaller islands in the
Tyrrhenian Sea
Ants of Grosseto
some rocks:
Meloria in the
Ligurian Sea;
Elba: Formiche della Zanca, Ogliera, Scoglio della
Triglia, Corbella Island, Gemini Islands, Ortano Island, Topi Island
and Portoferraio Scoglietto
Giglio: the island of the cape, Le
Scole
Pianosa: the Scarpa and La Scola;
Capraia: the Peraiola
Montecristo: the Rock of Africa
Lily island/ Isola del Giglio
The island of Giglio, composed of rocky coasts with cliffs of
high naturalistic value, in addition to being part of the National
Park, is a protected area both as a site of regional interest (SIR)
and as a special protection area (SPA), and it has also been
proposed as a site of community importance (pSIC).
Geomorphology
As a prevalent environmental typology, the island
is mainly granite, with heterogeneous vegetation cover, more or less
evolved formations of Mediterranean scrub and its degradation stages
(garrigue and annual meadows) prevail, due to fires. Significant
areas are occupied by pine trees and recolonization shrubs on
abandoned agricultural areas. Large presence of terracing.
SIR
The main critical elements within the SIR are:
Mass summer
tourism affects the landscape and vegetation of the island, leading
to high levels of anthropization.
Considerable presence of roads,
in the northern portion of the island, with very high traffic in the
summer months.
Strong anthropogenic disturbance, in the summer
months, on the entire coastal development.
Frequent fires.
Abandonment of traditional forms of land use and consequent
reduction of environmental heterogeneity.
Increase in the
breeding population of herring gulls (Larus cachinnans).
Presence
of terrestrial predators introduced by humans (dogs, cats, rats).
Diffusion of non-native plant and animal species.
The main
critical elements external to the site are:
Presence of
conspicuous tourist settlements (in expansion) in some coastal
stretches, with strong artificialization of the areas with sandy
coast.
Coastal landfills that favor the increase of the herring
gull.
Direct and indirect impact of fishing on seabirds.
The main cynoservation measures to be adopted are:
Preservation
of endemics exclusive to flora and fauna (EE).
Maintenance /
recovery of priority habitats (grasslands) and rare floristic
species (EE).
Maintenance of high levels of naturalness in less
populated areas (EE).
Protection of the Corsican gull (EE).
Maintenance / increase of the levels of environmental diversity,
favoring the presence of the different stages of vegetation
succession and the permanence of agricultural areas (E).
Eradication / control of invasive alien species (M).
Indications for conservation measures:
Verification and
limitation of further development programs for tourist settlements,
roads, etc., with particular attention to the protection of less
populated areas, the coastal strip and endemic species (EE).
Analysis of the impact of fishing on seabirds and adoption of any
necessary measures (EE).
Monitoring of the location of the
colonies of Larus audouinii and adoption of any conservation
measures deemed necessary (prohibition of landing, prohibition of
anchoring in areas close to the colony, specific awareness-raising
actions) (EE).
Incentive / promotion of low-impact agricultural
activities, verifying, in particular, the possibility of restoring
livestock activities that allow the maintenance of grasslands and
garrigue (E).
Since some of the main causes of deterioration /
disturbance depend on environmental pressures originating in the
context outside the site, the impact assessment tool (E) must be
appropriately applied to these.
Protection of the most advanced
vegetation formations, in particular of broad-leaved and sclerophyll
woods, and start-up of management interventions (including through
contractual measures) aimed at increasing their levels of maturity
(E).
Activation of eradication / control actions of invasive
exotic plant species (in particular black locust) and control of the
presence of feral dogs and cats (E).
Protection of residual
strips of sandy coast with the presence of psammophilous vegetation
(M).
Activation of a comprehensive plan for the limitation of the
herring gull (Larus cachinnans) (M).
Common
Campo nell'Elba, Capoliveri, Marciana, Marciana Marina,
Porto Azzurro, Portoferraio, Rio; Capraia Isola; Grosseto; Lily
island; Livorno
The Mediterranean and island climate
are the main factors that influence the vegetation of the Tuscan
Archipelago. In this area there are massively present evergreen
plants and plants with very small leaves such as gorse. In the
environment of the archipelago you can find large holm oak forests
of which only a few coppice and chestnut woods survive today. The
most widespread plant formation in the park today is the
Mediterranean scrub: strawberry trees, mastic trees, Phoenician
juniper, myrtle, heather, rosemary, lavender, broom and rock rose.
Some endemic species are exclusive to the Tuscan archipelago or
the Sardinian-Corsican area.
Lily island
On the site of
the Isola del Giglio, the predominantly silicic flora is quite rich,
with rare and endemic Tyrrhenian species. Among the other relevant
environmental typologies are agricultural areas (mainly vineyards),
sclerophyll woods and, in the cooler aspects, broad-leaved trees,
rocky coasts, sandy coasts, small historical centers and tourist
settlements.
Among the plant species present: the prostrate
cabbage (Brassica procumbens), a species with North African and
South European distribution, present in Europe in two localities
(Corsica and Isola del Giglio), probably the European stations are
of adventitious origin; the Gagea granatellii, a rare species,
reported in Elba (M. Capanne), Pianosa and Giglio. Floristic
populations of rocky coasts with endemic species or of high
conservation interest are also worth mentioning.
Among the mammals it is worth noting the presence of martens and
wild rabbits, as well as mouflons and wild boars, which, however,
have been introduced for hunting purposes. The birdlife is rich:
various migratory birds, including shearwaters and Corsican gulls,
the latter also symbols of the park. Among reptiles and amphibians:
the venturone, the Tyrrhenian gecko, the Tyrrhenian tree frog, the
Sardinian discoglossus and the sordone.
The Municipality of
Marciana on the island of Elba, with resolution no. 26 of 30 April
1976, ordered the acquisition - for the total sum of 672,000 lire -
of three specimens of mouflon from the Ugo Baldacci estate in
Montecatini Val di Cecina to be placed on Monte Perone, declaring
that the introduction of the specimens constituted a "Contribution
of the Municipality to the repopulation and reconstitution of the
fauna [...] in order to obtain a restocking of game in the suitable
areas of the island."
However, in May 2016, the Governing
Council of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park took the decision to
"eradicate" the mouflon from the island. The crackdown comes after
years in which the Park has tried to limit the heads of ungulates in
the Elban territory: an action that, evidently, was not enough to
manage the emergency caused by the mouflons, responsible together
with the wild boars for numerous damage to the crops and
biodiversity, especially with regard to the red lily, the star lily,
the holly and the butcher's broom.
Lily island
In the SIR
of the Isola del Giglio it is worth noting the presence of the rare
chiroptera Tadarida teniotis.
Presence of rare marine nesting
ornithic species, linked to rocky habitats and Mediterranean
garrigue; important for the stopover of migratory birds. Among them:
the Sardinian magnanine (Sylvia sarda) recently reported as a
breeder; the Sardinian common willow (Sylvia conspicillata),
recently reported as a breeder. Presence of endemic forms, exclusive
to the Giglio or the Tuscan Archipelago, and numerous other elements
of biogeographical interest (for example, Sardinian-Corsican forms).
Consistent nesting populations of threatened bird species, linked to
complex environmental mosaics and traditional agricultural
landscapes.
Presence among the reptiles of Phyllodactylus
europeus, belonging to a genus which is otherwise tropical and among
the amphibians, of Discoglossus sardus, endemic species of the
Tyrrhenian area.
Numerous endemic invertebrate species.