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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.
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| 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. |
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