Nature in the Parks
LE CESINE NATURE RESERVE
The Le Cesine Nature Reserve and WWF Oasis extends for 348 hectares and represents the last stretch of coastal marshes that once characterized the Salento coast. The area is made up of different habitats that make it a remarkable treasure chest of biodiversity: temporary ponds, Aleppo pine forests, holm oak forests, garrigue and coastal marshes. The Oasis is located within a Special Conservation Area in the Municipality of Vernole (LE) and is also a Special Protection Area.
The Oasis, of about 350 hectares, is one of the most preserved and important humid environments in southern Italy, the last survivor of the vast marshy and wooded area that extended from Brindisi to Otranto. The WWF Le Cesine Oasis is located along one of the main migratory routes and is home to numerous aquatic birds. One hundred and eighty species of birds populate the different habitats of the area throughout the seasons. As many as 32 species of spontaneous orchids have been recorded, some of which are on the Red List.
OTRANTO-LEUCA COAST AND TRICASE WOODS REGIONAL NATURAL PARK
The Otranto-Leuca Coast and Tricase Woods Regional Natural Park, with over 50 kilometers of coastline and 3,200 hectares of land, is the largest regional park in the province of Lecce.
A road with a myriad of curves and hairpin bends is the historic backbone of a breathtaking landscape. From terraced olive groves to sheer cliffs overlooking the sea, even its most secret corners are places not to be missed. On the eastern coast of Salento, the long rocky coastline that extends from Otranto to Santa Maria di Leuca offers visitors the impression of a distinct entity from a landscape point of view, at times wild and rugged, often fragmented and disconnected, but certainly one of the most beautiful and interesting in Puglia.
A long strip of land enclosed between two historic coastal bastions: the Torre del Serpe, an ancient Roman lighthouse and scene of legendary events, marks the entrance to the Park, in the easternmost point of Italy, the Palascìa lighthouse, and takes us on an exciting journey through breathtaking coves, meadows, pine forests, olive groves, woods and deep ravines up to the mighty lighthouse of Leuca, to end in that Finibus terrae where Italy also ends and looks far away towards another continent.
REGIONAL NATURAL PARK OF THE UGENTO COAST
On the other side of the peninsula, the Regional Natural Park of the “Ugento Coast” is an area that extends for 1,600 hectares, bordered by the towns of Torre San Giovanni and Lido Marini and characterized by a high variety of natural environments. It protects, for a depth of about three kilometers from the coast and a length of eight, a very valuable coastal sequence, consisting of a dune and back-dune system, a series of tidal basins and connecting channels, a fossil reef with ravines and a large area of Mediterranean scrub. Proceeding from the sea towards the interior, one first encounters the strip of sandy coastlines with dunes that are several meters high, the back-dune environments, the marshy and alluvial ones; then follow the terraced marine deposits and the “Serre di Ugento”, hilly formations of limestone rock, occasionally incised by the “gravinelle”, karst gullies parallel to each other and perpendicular to the coastline.
SANT’ANDREA ISLAND AND PUNTA PIZZO COAST REGIONAL NATURAL PARK
The Sant’Andrea Island and Punta Pizzo Coast Regional Natural Park is a protected natural area on the Ionian coast of Salento located in the municipality of Gallipoli (Lecce). The park was established by law in 2006 and includes the Sant’Andrea Island and the stretch of the southern coast of Gallipoli between the localities “Li Foggi”, “Punta della Suina” and “Torre del Pizzo”.
The coastal stretch of “Punta della Suina”, immersed in a crystalline sea and a vast pine forest, is one of the main green lungs of Salento. Punta della Suina is an exclusive tourist resort on the sea of the Gulf of Gallipoli located on a slight rocky promontory that slopes towards the sea.
The flora and fauna of the place are particularly varied. Among the Mediterranean scrub shrubs are myrtle, buckthorn, phillyrea, thorny broom, mastic, while among the rich herbaceous vegetation there is the presence of spontaneous orchids.
The rare species of Audouin’s Gull nests on the Island of Sant’Andrea.
The Isola Sant’Andrea is one of the few islands in Salento and is located less than 2 kilometers from the coast. Its surface, covering about 50 thousand square meters, is mostly low and arid rock, with little vegetation. On the southern part of the island, a 45-meter-high Lighthouse was built in 1866, now renovated
PORTO SELVAGGIO AND PALUDE DEL CAPITANO REGIONAL NATURAL PARK
The Porto Selvaggio and Palude del Capitano Regional Natural Park is a protected natural area in Puglia located in the province of Lecce established in 2006.
In 2007 it was included by the Italian Environment Fund (FAI) in the list of “100 places to save”.
The park falls entirely within the territory of the municipality of Nardò. It includes the area of the equipped regional natural park of Porto Selvaggio – Torre Uluzzo and the Palude del Capitano.
The coast is rocky and jagged, and characterized by pine forests and Mediterranean scrub. The Torre dell’Alto, Torre Uluzzo and Torre Inserraglio are located along the coast. The park also includes the Horse Cave, a natural coastal limestone cave, part of a larger system of natural caves located in the Uluzzo Bay.
REGIONAL ORIENTED NATURE RESERVE PALUDE DEL CONTE AND COASTAL DUNE OF PORTO CESAREO
The Regional oriented nature reserve Palude del Conte and Coastal Dune – Porto Cesareo is a protected natural area located in the municipality of Porto Cesareo, in the province of Lecce, in Salento. The reserve covers an area of 898 hectares, is in environmental continuity with the adjacent protected area “regional oriented nature reserve of the Eastern Taranto Coast” and with the marine protected area of Porto Cesareo. The regional oriented reserve includes two sites of community interest: “Palude del Conte – Dune di Punta Prosciutto and Porto Cesareo.
The perimeter of the reserve includes one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in the area, that of Punta Prosciutto and Lido degli Angeli, characterized by high and lush centuries-old dunes covered with Mediterranean scrub. Behind the dunes, there is a wetland at the foot of the hill called Serra degli Angeli, formed by vast reed beds, clear water, canals and basins. One of these feeds the Serra degli Angeli canal and creates a complex water network with the two basins and crosses the area of the Bosco dell’Arneo.
PADULI MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURAL PARK
The “Paduli multifunctional agricultural park” was born from a desire for public participation and a need to create a place of environmental-landscape interconnection with a territory dominated mainly by olive trees and agricultural land. It covers an area occupied until 1800 by a dense oak forest of which, today, only a few specimens, having escaped destruction, stand near the dense network of roads as evidence of what for a long time was the ancient Belvedere forest. The Paduli Park with its surface area of approximately 5,500 hectares is a park that occupies a central position, right in the heart of Salento. The idea and the assumptions of territorial connection and interconnection that this area aims to achieve are very ambitious. From a naturalistic point of view, it is a powerful hub of connections and corridors between two protected natural areas on the edges of our peninsula.
Nature in the Parks
LE CESINE NATURE RESERVE
The Le Cesine Nature Reserve and WWF Oasis extends for 348 hectares and represents the last stretch of coastal marshes that once characterized the Salento coast. The area is made up of different habitats that make it a remarkable treasure chest of biodiversity: temporary ponds, Aleppo pine forests, holm oak forests, garrigue and coastal marshes. The Oasis is located within a Special Conservation Area in the Municipality of Vernole (LE) and is also a Special Protection Area.
The Oasis, of about 350 hectares, is one of the most preserved and important humid environments in southern Italy, the last survivor of the vast marshy and wooded area that extended from Brindisi to Otranto. The WWF Le Cesine Oasis is located along one of the main migratory routes and is home to numerous aquatic birds. One hundred and eighty species of birds populate the different habitats of the area throughout the seasons. As many as 32 species of spontaneous orchids have been recorded, some of which are on the Red List.
OTRANTO-LEUCA COAST AND TRICASE WOODS REGIONAL NATURAL PARK
The Otranto-Leuca Coast and Tricase Woods Regional Natural Park, with over 50 kilometers of coastline and 3,200 hectares of land, is the largest regional park in the province of Lecce.
A road with a myriad of curves and hairpin bends is the historic backbone of a breathtaking landscape. From terraced olive groves to sheer cliffs overlooking the sea, even its most secret corners are places not to be missed. On the eastern coast of Salento, the long rocky coastline that extends from Otranto to Santa Maria di Leuca offers visitors the impression of a distinct entity from a landscape point of view, at times wild and rugged, often fragmented and disconnected, but certainly one of the most beautiful and interesting in Puglia.
A long strip of land enclosed between two historic coastal bastions: the Torre del Serpe, an ancient Roman lighthouse and scene of legendary events, marks the entrance to the Park, in the easternmost point of Italy, the Palascìa lighthouse, and takes us on an exciting journey through breathtaking coves, meadows, pine forests, olive groves, woods and deep ravines up to the mighty lighthouse of Leuca, to end in that Finibus terrae where Italy also ends and looks far away towards another continent.
REGIONAL NATURAL PARK OF THE UGENTO COAST
On the other side of the peninsula, the Regional Natural Park of the “Ugento Coast” is an area that extends for 1,600 hectares, bordered by the towns of Torre San Giovanni and Lido Marini and characterized by a high variety of natural environments. It protects, for a depth of about three kilometers from the coast and a length of eight, a very valuable coastal sequence, consisting of a dune and back-dune system, a series of tidal basins and connecting channels, a fossil reef with ravines and a large area of Mediterranean scrub. Proceeding from the sea towards the interior, one first encounters the strip of sandy coastlines with dunes that are several meters high, the back-dune environments, the marshy and alluvial ones; then follow the terraced marine deposits and the “Serre di Ugento”, hilly formations of limestone rock, occasionally incised by the “gravinelle”, karst gullies parallel to each other and perpendicular to the coastline.
SANT’ANDREA ISLAND AND PUNTA PIZZO COAST REGIONAL NATURAL PARK
The Sant’Andrea Island and Punta Pizzo Coast Regional Natural Park is a protected natural area on the Ionian coast of Salento located in the municipality of Gallipoli (Lecce). The park was established by law in 2006 and includes the Sant’Andrea Island and the stretch of the southern coast of Gallipoli between the localities “Li Foggi”, “Punta della Suina” and “Torre del Pizzo”.
The coastal stretch of “Punta della Suina”, immersed in a crystalline sea and a vast pine forest, is one of the main green lungs of Salento. Punta della Suina is an exclusive tourist resort on the sea of the Gulf of Gallipoli located on a slight rocky promontory that slopes towards the sea.
The flora and fauna of the place are particularly varied. Among the Mediterranean scrub shrubs are myrtle, buckthorn, phillyrea, thorny broom, mastic, while among the rich herbaceous vegetation there is the presence of spontaneous orchids.
The rare species of Audouin’s Gull nests on the Island of Sant’Andrea.
The Isola Sant’Andrea is one of the few islands in Salento and is located less than 2 kilometers from the coast. Its surface, covering about 50 thousand square meters, is mostly low and arid rock, with little vegetation. On the southern part of the island, a 45-meter-high Lighthouse was built in 1866, now renovated
PORTO SELVAGGIO AND PALUDE DEL CAPITANO REGIONAL NATURAL PARK
The Porto Selvaggio and Palude del Capitano Regional Natural Park is a protected natural area in Puglia located in the province of Lecce established in 2006.
In 2007 it was included by the Italian Environment Fund (FAI) in the list of “100 places to save”.
The park falls entirely within the territory of the municipality of Nardò. It includes the area of the equipped regional natural park of Porto Selvaggio – Torre Uluzzo and the Palude del Capitano.
The coast is rocky and jagged, and characterized by pine forests and Mediterranean scrub. The Torre dell’Alto, Torre Uluzzo and Torre Inserraglio are located along the coast. The park also includes the Horse Cave, a natural coastal limestone cave, part of a larger system of natural caves located in the Uluzzo Bay.
REGIONAL ORIENTED NATURE RESERVE PALUDE DEL CONTE AND COASTAL DUNE OF PORTO CESAREO
The Regional oriented nature reserve Palude del Conte and Coastal Dune – Porto Cesareo is a protected natural area located in the municipality of Porto Cesareo, in the province of Lecce, in Salento. The reserve covers an area of 898 hectares, is in environmental continuity with the adjacent protected area “regional oriented nature reserve of the Eastern Taranto Coast” and with the marine protected area of Porto Cesareo. The regional oriented reserve includes two sites of community interest: “Palude del Conte – Dune di Punta Prosciutto and Porto Cesareo.
The perimeter of the reserve includes one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in the area, that of Punta Prosciutto and Lido degli Angeli, characterized by high and lush centuries-old dunes covered with Mediterranean scrub. Behind the dunes, there is a wetland at the foot of the hill called Serra degli Angeli, formed by vast reed beds, clear water, canals and basins. One of these feeds the Serra degli Angeli canal and creates a complex water network with the two basins and crosses the area of the Bosco dell’Arneo.
PADULI MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURAL PARK
The “Paduli multifunctional agricultural park” was born from a desire for public participation and a need to create a place of environmental-landscape interconnection with a territory dominated mainly by olive trees and agricultural land. It covers an area occupied until 1800 by a dense oak forest of which, today, only a few specimens, having escaped destruction, stand near the dense network of roads as evidence of what for a long time was the ancient Belvedere forest. The Paduli Park with its surface area of approximately 5,500 hectares is a park that occupies a central position, right in the heart of Salento. The idea and the assumptions of territorial connection and interconnection that this area aims to achieve are very ambitious. From a naturalistic point of view, it is a powerful hub of connections and corridors between two protected natural areas on the edges of our peninsula.
