Asinara
Encyclopedia
Asinara is an Italian
island of 52 km² (20 sq mi) in area. The name is Italian
for "donkey-inhabited", but it is thought to derive from the Latin
"sinuaria", and meaning sinus-shaped
. The island is virtually uninhabited. The census of population of 2001 lists one man. The island is located off the north-western tip of Sardinia
, and is mountainous in geography with steep, rocky coasts. Because fresh water is scarce, trees are sparse and low scrub is the predominant vegetation. Part of the national parks system of Italy, the island was recently converted to a wildlife and marine preserve
. It is home to a population of wild Albino donkeys from which the island may take its name.
. It is a territory of 51.9 km² (20 sq mi) with a length of 17.4 km (11 mi) and a width which ranges from 290 m (951 ft) at Cala di Sgombro to 6.4 km (4 mi) of the northern part, as well as 110 km (68 mi) of coast length. The highest point, at 408 m (1,339 ft), is Punta della Scomunica. The territory is entirely state property. The island is formed by four mountainous sections linked by a narrow, flat coastal belt. The windswept west coast is steep and rocky with a very deep sea bottom. The west coast turns down towards the bay of Asinara.
As an extension of the larger island, Asinara is the second largest island after Sant'Antioco
. The surface is hilly, covered by thick Mediterranean scrub
and few trees, with the exception of a wooded area in the northern part of the island. In the other parts of the island only small trees survive, mostly junipers. The island has indented coast, as seen from Cape Falcone. The west side of the island is more rocky and steep, while the east has wide, flat areas with a maximum height of 50 m (164 ft). There are only three sandy beaches, all on the eastern coast. As of 2008, 107.32 km² (41 sq mi) of the surrounding marine and underwater environment is a protected natural area. From a geological point of view, the Asinara is part of the Nurra
of north-western Sardinia, made up by more than 80% of metamorphic rock
. The rock characterizes the island landscape together with the woody vegetation. Among the metamorphic rocks, great interest is attached to rare black Hercynean
amphibolite
s 950 million years old, the oldest rocks in Italy.
Human habitation on the island dates back to prehistory
, with Domus de Janas
(sprite
s' houses) near Campu Perdu. Carved into soft limestone
, the constructions are unique to the island.
Because of its central position in the Mediterranean, Asinara was known and used by Phoenicia
ns, Greeks, and Romans
. The Camaldolite
monastery of Sant'Andrea and the Castellaccio on Punta Maestra, Fornelli, may date to the Middle Ages
.
.jpg)
The island was also an object of pirate raids by the Saracen
s. Later, ownership of Asinara was contested between Pisa
, the Republic of Genoa
, and the kingdom of Aragon
. From the 17th century, shepherds from Sardinia
and Liguria
colonized the island. In 1721, it became property of the Savoy
Kingdom of Sardinia
.
In 1885 the island became state property; a lazaretto
, the Primario Lazzaretto del Regno d'Italia, was built at Cala Reale and an agricultural penal colony
was established at Cala d'Oliva, by order of King Umberto I of Italy
. About 100 families of Sardinian farmers and Genoese
fishermen who lived on Asinara were obliged to move to Sardinia, where they founded the village of Stintino
.
During the First World War
, the island was used as a prison camp
for some 24,000 Austrian
and Hungarian soldiers, 5000 of whom died during their imprisonment. It was used as a place of detention for members of the nobility of Ethiopia during the Italian occupation of that country between 1936 and 1941.
In the 1970s the prison facilities were refurbished as a maximum security prison. In past years was assigned mainly to detention of mafia
members and terrorists, and has housed the likes of such as the mafia boss Totò Riina
. Prisoners and warders were the only inhabitants of Asinara for about 110 years, until the closure of the prison in December 1997.
Construction on the island has been forbidden for the last century.
In 1997 Asinara was established as a National Park, and is now a nature reserve. Its natural beauty, unspoiled by the sparse human settlement, made it an ideal candidate.
Since 1999, tourists have been able to visit Asinara Island, but only through organized and guided tours. Swimming is permitted only on three beaches and docking of private boats is forbidden.
In 2002, the waters offshore of the national park were zoned and designated as Italy’s newest marine protected area, encompassing 49 mi (79 km) of coastline around the island and 41 sq mi (106.2 km²) of its coastal waters. There are two no access, no fishing zones on Asinara Island.
There are many species of native and introduced mammals on the island, including horses, asses, goats, sheep, and pigs. The island’s vegetation is a mix of plants native to Sardinia
, plants common throughout the Mediterranean
, or introduced plant
s found in other bioregions, including North America. The island also harbors several rarely-seen species, including the white Asinara donkey.
There are many old facilities on the island, including the prison facilities, but also small cities built for and by the inhabitants of the quarantine camp, and for the staff that serviced the camp and the prison. All of these have been turned over to the national park, and in tandem the marine protected area, who sorted out what will be kept and with what restoration is needed.
A Presidential Decree, on 3 October 2002, officially set both the Park and the Park body, which is a management body envisioned for national parks by a framework on protected areas. The park body will also manage the Protected Marine Area set by decree of the Minister of the environment and land protection on the 13 August 2002. Both the park and the marine area are enclosed in the protected area "international cetacean sanctuary"(Act. 391/01). Asinara is furthermore a Site of Community importance.(on 3 April 2000).
There are strict regulations on the island put in place to guarantee the conservation of the marine and land habitats. Institutional decrees (M.D. 28.11.97, M.D. 13.8.02, Presidential Decree 3.10.02), with numerous clauses, include no permission to use own vehicles, prohibition of sport fishing, anchorage and navigation with the exception of authorized means.
macchia, with Lentisk, Euphorbia, Tree heath
(Erica arborea), Calicotome spinosa
, Phyllirea angustifolia, Phoenician Juniper
and cistus
. The flora
consists of 678 species, 29 of which are endemic. Some, such as Centaurea
horrida, Limonium laetum and Limonium acutifolium, are exclusive to northern Sardinia, while others are characteristic of the Sardinian - Corsican region. The fauna
numbers around 80 wild species of terrestrial vertebrates
, including mouflon
, wild boar, horse
s, Sardinian donkeys and the white Asinara donkey, which was introduced
onto the island at the beginning of the 1800s, and probably abandoned when the inhabitants were moved to Stintino. Birds include the rare Audouin's gull
, Cormorant
s, Peregrine Falcon
s and the Barbary Partridge
. Asinara is the only place in Sardinia where the magpie
is present.
The marine setting is rocky in the eastern side, with steep slopes and ravines, but mainly sandy in the western area. The shallowest part of the coast is colonized by two rare species, the red alga
Lithophyllum lichenoides and the endangered giant limpet
Patella ferruginea
. The integrity of the ecosystem is due to the history of its settlement, or rather the lack of it, that is a charactistic of the island.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
island of 52 km² (20 sq mi) in area. The name is Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
for "donkey-inhabited", but it is thought to derive from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
"sinuaria", and meaning sinus-shaped
Sinus (anatomy)
Sinus is Latin for "bay", "pocket", "curve", or "bosom". In anatomy, the term is used in various contexts.A sinus is a sack or cavity in any organ or tissue, or an abnormal cavity or passage caused by the destruction of tissue...
. The island is virtually uninhabited. The census of population of 2001 lists one man. The island is located off the north-western tip of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, and is mountainous in geography with steep, rocky coasts. Because fresh water is scarce, trees are sparse and low scrub is the predominant vegetation. Part of the national parks system of Italy, the island was recently converted to a wildlife and marine preserve
Marine Protected Area
Marine Protected Areas, like any protected area, are regions in which human activity has been placed under some restrictions in the interest of conserving the natural environment, it's surrounding waters and the occupant ecosystems, and any cultural or historical resources that may require...
. It is home to a population of wild Albino donkeys from which the island may take its name.
Geography and geology
Asinara is located at the north-western tip of SardiniaSardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. It is a territory of 51.9 km² (20 sq mi) with a length of 17.4 km (11 mi) and a width which ranges from 290 m (951 ft) at Cala di Sgombro to 6.4 km (4 mi) of the northern part, as well as 110 km (68 mi) of coast length. The highest point, at 408 m (1,339 ft), is Punta della Scomunica. The territory is entirely state property. The island is formed by four mountainous sections linked by a narrow, flat coastal belt. The windswept west coast is steep and rocky with a very deep sea bottom. The west coast turns down towards the bay of Asinara.
As an extension of the larger island, Asinara is the second largest island after Sant'Antioco
Sant'Antioco
Sant'Antioco is the name of both an island and a municipality in southwestern Sardinia, in the Province of Carbonia-Iglesias, in Sulcis zone. With a population of 11,730, the municipality of Sant'Antioco it is the island's largest community...
. The surface is hilly, covered by thick Mediterranean scrub
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, characterized by dry summers and rainy winters. Summers are typically hot in low-lying inland locations but can be cool near some seas, as near San Francisco, which have a sea of cool waters...
and few trees, with the exception of a wooded area in the northern part of the island. In the other parts of the island only small trees survive, mostly junipers. The island has indented coast, as seen from Cape Falcone. The west side of the island is more rocky and steep, while the east has wide, flat areas with a maximum height of 50 m (164 ft). There are only three sandy beaches, all on the eastern coast. As of 2008, 107.32 km² (41 sq mi) of the surrounding marine and underwater environment is a protected natural area. From a geological point of view, the Asinara is part of the Nurra
Nurra
The Nurra is a geographical region in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy. It is the second largest plain of the island, located between the towns of Sassari, Porto Torres and Alghero...
of north-western Sardinia, made up by more than 80% of metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
. The rock characterizes the island landscape together with the woody vegetation. Among the metamorphic rocks, great interest is attached to rare black Hercynean
Variscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...
amphibolite
Amphibolite
Amphibolite is the name given to a rock consisting mainly of hornblende amphibole, the use of the term being restricted, however, to metamorphic rocks. The modern terminology for a holocrystalline plutonic igneous rocks composed primarily of hornblende amphibole is a hornblendite, which are...
s 950 million years old, the oldest rocks in Italy.
Early history
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
, with Domus de Janas
Domus de Janas
Domus de Janas are a type of pre-historic chamber tombs found in the Mediterranean area, but typically in Sardinia. They consist of several chambers quarried out by the Ozieri and Beaker cultures, resembling houses in their layout.Built between 3400 and 2700 BC, more than 1000 of the rock-cut...
(sprite
Sprite (creature)
The term sprite is a broad term referring to a number of preternatural legendary creatures. The term is generally used in reference to elf-like creatures, including fairies, and similar beings , but can also signify various spiritual beings, including ghosts. In Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books,...
s' houses) near Campu Perdu. Carved into soft limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, the constructions are unique to the island.
Because of its central position in the Mediterranean, Asinara was known and used by Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
ns, Greeks, and Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. The Camaldolite
Camaldoli
Camaldoli is a frazione of the comune of Poppi, in Tuscany, Italy. It is mostly known as the ancestral seat of the Camaldolese monastic order, originated in the eponymous hermitage, which can still be visited....
monastery of Sant'Andrea and the Castellaccio on Punta Maestra, Fornelli, may date to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s. Later, ownership of Asinara was contested between Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
, and the kingdom of Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
. From the 17th century, shepherds from Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
and Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
colonized the island. In 1721, it became property of the Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
.
In 1885 the island became state property; a lazaretto
Lazaretto
A lazaretto or lazaret is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. Until 1908, lazarets were also used for disinfecting postal items, usually by fumigation...
, the Primario Lazzaretto del Regno d'Italia, was built at Cala Reale and an agricultural penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
was established at Cala d'Oliva, by order of King Umberto I of Italy
Umberto I of Italy
Umberto I or Humbert I , nicknamed the Good , was the King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his death. He was deeply loathed in far-left circles, especially among anarchists, because of his conservatism and support of the Bava-Beccaris massacre in Milan...
. About 100 families of Sardinian farmers and Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
fishermen who lived on Asinara were obliged to move to Sardinia, where they founded the village of Stintino
Stintino
Stintino is a coastal comune in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 200 km north of Cagliari and about 35 km northwest of Sassari....
.
During the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the island was used as a prison camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
for some 24,000 Austrian
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
and Hungarian soldiers, 5000 of whom died during their imprisonment. It was used as a place of detention for members of the nobility of Ethiopia during the Italian occupation of that country between 1936 and 1941.
In the 1970s the prison facilities were refurbished as a maximum security prison. In past years was assigned mainly to detention of mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
members and terrorists, and has housed the likes of such as the mafia boss Totò Riina
Salvatore Riina
Salvatore "Totò" Riina is a member of the Sicilian Mafia who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s. Fellow mobsters nicknamed him The Beast due to his violent nature, or sometimes The Short One due to his diminutive stature...
. Prisoners and warders were the only inhabitants of Asinara for about 110 years, until the closure of the prison in December 1997.
Construction on the island has been forbidden for the last century.
Modern history and the national park
Since 1999, tourists have been able to visit Asinara Island, but only through organized and guided tours. Swimming is permitted only on three beaches and docking of private boats is forbidden.
In 2002, the waters offshore of the national park were zoned and designated as Italy’s newest marine protected area, encompassing 49 mi (79 km) of coastline around the island and 41 sq mi (106.2 km²) of its coastal waters. There are two no access, no fishing zones on Asinara Island.
There are many species of native and introduced mammals on the island, including horses, asses, goats, sheep, and pigs. The island’s vegetation is a mix of plants native to Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, plants common throughout the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
, or introduced plant
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
s found in other bioregions, including North America. The island also harbors several rarely-seen species, including the white Asinara donkey.
There are many old facilities on the island, including the prison facilities, but also small cities built for and by the inhabitants of the quarantine camp, and for the staff that serviced the camp and the prison. All of these have been turned over to the national park, and in tandem the marine protected area, who sorted out what will be kept and with what restoration is needed.
Details of protection
There are strict regulations on the island put in place to guarantee the conservation of the marine and land habitats. Institutional decrees (M.D. 28.11.97, M.D. 13.8.02, Presidential Decree 3.10.02), with numerous clauses, include no permission to use own vehicles, prohibition of sport fishing, anchorage and navigation with the exception of authorized means.
Ecology
The vegetation of Asinara is a typical MediterraneanMediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, characterized by dry summers and rainy winters. Summers are typically hot in low-lying inland locations but can be cool near some seas, as near San Francisco, which have a sea of cool waters...
macchia, with Lentisk, Euphorbia, Tree heath
Tree heath
Erica arborea, the tree heath, is a shrub or small evergreen tree found mostly in the macchia-matorral-maquis shrublands, dry evergreen scrublands, surrounding the Mediterranean Basin and west to Portugal and the Canary and Madeira Islands....
(Erica arborea), Calicotome spinosa
Calicotome spinosa
Calicotome spinosa is a very spiny, densely-branched shrub of the legume family Fabaceae which can reach up to three metres in height. It grows in the Western Mediterranean region on sunny slopes and dry, rocky ground. It is found in Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Algeria and has been...
, Phyllirea angustifolia, Phoenician Juniper
Juniperus phoenicea
Juniperus phoenicea, the Phoenicean Juniper or Arâr, is a juniper found throughout the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal east to Italy, Turkey and Egypt, south on the mountains of Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and in western Saudi Arabia near the Red Sea, and also on Madeira and the Canary...
and cistus
Cistus
Cistus is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species . They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal through to the Middle East, and also on the Canary Islands...
. The flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
consists of 678 species, 29 of which are endemic. Some, such as Centaurea
Centaurea
Centaurea is a genus of between 350 and 600 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding regions are particularly species-rich...
horrida, Limonium laetum and Limonium acutifolium, are exclusive to northern Sardinia, while others are characteristic of the Sardinian - Corsican region. The fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
numbers around 80 wild species of terrestrial vertebrates
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
, including mouflon
Mouflon
The mouflon is a subspecies group of the wild sheep Ovis aries. Populations of Ovis aries can be partitioned into the mouflons and urials or arkars...
, wild boar, horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, Sardinian donkeys and the white Asinara donkey, which was introduced
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
onto the island at the beginning of the 1800s, and probably abandoned when the inhabitants were moved to Stintino. Birds include the rare Audouin's gull
Audouin's Gull
The Audouin's Gull is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa. It breeds on small islands colonially or alone, laying 2-3 eggs on a ground nest...
, Cormorant
Cormorant
The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s, Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
s and the Barbary Partridge
Barbary Partridge
The Barbary Partridge , is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds....
. Asinara is the only place in Sardinia where the magpie
Magpie
Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae.In Europe, "magpie" is often used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia...
is present.
The marine setting is rocky in the eastern side, with steep slopes and ravines, but mainly sandy in the western area. The shallowest part of the coast is colonized by two rare species, the red alga
Red algae
The red algae are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae, and also one of the largest, with about 5,000–6,000 species of mostly multicellular, marine algae, including many notable seaweeds...
Lithophyllum lichenoides and the endangered giant limpet
Limpet
Limpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...
Patella ferruginea
Patella ferruginea
Patella ferruginea, common name Ribbed Mediterranean Limpet is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets.-References:-External links:*...
. The integrity of the ecosystem is due to the history of its settlement, or rather the lack of it, that is a charactistic of the island.
External links
- "Asinara National Park"
- A Collection of Images, mostly the albino donkeys.