Stagno di Cagliari
Encyclopedia
Cagliari
Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
’) is a coastal lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
at the mouths of the rivers Cixerri
Cixerri
The Cixerri is an Italian river in southern Sardinia province of Cagliari. It springs from Monte Croccoriga, at 313 m above sea level, in the province of Carbonia-Iglesias. The river flows into a lake north of Iglesias and then exist the lake and flows eastward. The river is joined by a...
and Mannu
Mannu
Mannu is a 1978 Malayalam film directed by K. G. George with Soman, P. K. Abraham, Sharada and Sukumaran in the lead roles.-Plot:Mannu is about the struggle between Damu, a tenant whose legal right to his land is obscure, and Krishnan Nair, a rapacious landlord. The local leader of the party,...
near Cagliari, on the Golfo degli Angeli
Golfo degli Angeli
thumb|Sella del Diavolo promontory seen from the [[Poetto]] beach near Cagliari.The Golfo degli Angeli , also known as Golfo di Cagliari is a large bay in southern Sardinia, Italy, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is enclosed between the Cape Carbonara from east and the Isola dei Cavoli and Capo...
in southern 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[],...
, Italy
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...
. It has been designated as a wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
site of international importance under the Ramsar Convention
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
since 1976 and is ranked among the most important of such areas in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
The area of the lagoon has substantially reduced during the 20th century, due to expanding populations in the nearby settlements of Cagliari, Capoterra
Capoterra
Capoterra is a town and comune in the province of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy.It is located on the western arm of the Golfo degli Angeli, c. 15 km from Cagliari. Economy is mostly based on agriculture, although the tourism sector grew notably in the past decades....
and Elmas
Elmas
Elmas is a comune in the Province of Cagliari in the Italian region of Sardinia, located about 8 km northwest of Cagliari....
, and to the construction of salt pans
Salt evaporation pond
Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns or salt pans, are shallow artificial ponds designed to produce salts from sea water or other brines. The seawater or brine is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested...
, roads and industrial plants. The current area is less than 13 km².
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"...
present include a great variety of bird species and it is one of the main European migration sites for the Greater Flamingo
Greater Flamingo
The Greater Flamingo is the most widespread species of the flamingo family. It is found in parts of Africa, southern Asia , and southern Europe...
.
External links
- Summary Description of the Stagno di Cagliari Ramsar site.
- Ramsar Wetlands Information Sheet for Stagno di Cagliari.