PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The Marsala marshland, on the northwestern coast of Sicily, represents one of the last typical lagoon habitats in the region. The Trapani saline, a few Kilometres away, constitute the only coastal brackish environment in Western Sicily. The two sites are included in the national list of wetlands and are important bird areas: species and habitats included in the list of the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and of the Birds Directive 70/409/EEC are present.
The two sites are however situated in one of the most densely populated areas in Sicily and only recently have local authorities taken active measures to insure their protection. A number of pressures are exerted, such as urban and infrastructure development, agriculture, commercial fishing. The Trapani saline, which have represented an important economic activity since Roman times and are still productive, are situated next to the harbour, within the city limits. The Marsala marshes are also surrounded by settlements.
OBJECTIVES
Both areas have been used as illegal waste deposits. The main priority, among the actions co-financed by LIFE, was the cleaning up of the two areas, after the local administrations have enacted effective measures of patrolling and protecting the sites.
Other measures included naturalistic engineering works to protect and recover the banks threatened by erosion, restoration of the wetland vegetation, recovery of parts of the saline being used as stepping-stones by migratory birds.
RESULTS
Most of the foreseen actions were concluded successfully.The technical blueprint of the actions to be carried out was extremely detailed and included an environmental impact evaluation of some of the main works foreseen by the project. The administrative procedure to obtain all the required authorisations was slow, partly because of lack of experience in this kind of project. Some problems were encountered in carrying out two of the foreseen actions, planting of autochthnous species and realization of artificial islets for birds. Among the main achievements of the project, there were:
the perimeter of one of the two sites of Community Importance was enlarged so as to include an area which was flooded to recreate a suitable habitat for bird species. The removal of waste dumps was carried out in all the project areas.Construction material and solid wastes were removed from both the Trapani Paceco Reserve and the Stagnone of Marsala Reserve. A total of 22,000 cubic meters of material was removed and 280 meters of artificial embankment were placed to prevent illegal waste dumping. In some areas of the coast floating barriers (35 meters) were placed to reduce inflowing waste material. About 200 meters of saltpan banks were restored. A total of 1.123 meters of fences were placed to block access to areas important for bird species. Opening of water-pools in reed ticket was carried out over 1790 m²in order to recreate spaces for bird species. Surveys were carried on bird species in the project area. In Trapani, according to the monitoring carried out, among the threatened species at EU level, present in Italy with minor population, there are: <1>Sterna albifrons (4 nesting couples and about 100 migrant individuals); <1> Phoenicopterus ruber <1/>(rare in '70; present now all year, with about 250-300 individuals).Seriously threatened species , present in Italy with important population: <1>Platalea leucordia (wintering and migrant, in Spring and Autumn 120-200 individuals are present); <1>Ciconia ciconia ; <1>Sylvia undata. An awareness campaign, which included the realisation of leaflets, posters, T shirts and a video, was contributed to raise awareness of local population of the existence of the Natura 2000 network. Most of the foreseen actions were concluded successfully.The technical blueprint of the actions to be carried out was extremely detailed and included an environmental impact evaluation of some of the main works foreseen by the project. The administrative procedure to obtain all the required authorisations was slow, partly because of lack of experience in this kind of project. Some problems were encountered in carrying out two of the foreseen actions, planting of autochthnous species and realization of artificial islets for birds. Among the main achievements of the project, there were: the perimeter of one of the two sites of Community Importance was enlarged so as to include an area which was flooded to recreate a suitable habitat for bird species. The removal of waste dumps was carried out in all the project areas.Construction material and solid wastes were removed from both the Trapani Paceco Reserve and the Stagnone of Marsala Reserve. A total of 22,000 cubic meters of material was removed and 280 meters of artificial embankment were placed to prevent illegal waste dumping. In some areas of the coast floating barriers (35 meters) were placed to reduce inflowing waste material. About 200 meters of saltpan banks were restored. A total of 1.123 meters of fences were placed to block access to areas important for bird species. Opening of water-pools in reed ticket was carried out over 1790 m²in order to recreate spaces for bird species. Surveys were carried on bird species in the project area. In Trapani, according to the monitoring carried out, among the threatened species at EU level, present in Italy with minor population, there are: <1>Sterna albifrons (4 nesting couples and about 100 migrant individuals); <1> Phoenicopterus ruber <1/>(rare in '70; present now all year, with about 250-300 individuals).Seriously threatened species , present in Italy with important population: <1>Platalea leucordia (wintering and migrant, in Spring and Autumn 120-200 individuals are present); <1>Ciconia ciconia ; <1>Sylvia undata. An awareness campaign, which included the realisation of leaflets, posters, T shirts and a video, was contributed to raise awareness of local population of the existence of the Natura 2000 network.
