Established new marine protected areas : Capo Testa-Punta Falcone and Capo Milazzo

The Minister of the Environment Gian Luca Galletti has signed the decrees that establish two new marine protected areas: "Capo Testa-Punta Falcone" in Sardegna , in the town of Santa Teresa di Gallura (Sassari) and "Capo Milazzo" in Sicily, in municipality of Milazzo (Messina).

The signing of the two decrees is an important recognition of ISPRA's commitment to support the Ministry of the Environment. The institute has carried out all the technical-scientific activities, both environmental and socio-economic,  so important  for the preparation of the zoning proposals of the two new Protected Marine Areas (AMP). ISPRA has operated with its "Astrea" oceanographic ship and has conducted underwater surveys in immersion to fill the environmental knowledge gaps and developed a participatory path for the collection of information useful to describe the socio-economic context, also involving local economic operators.

With these decrees, the Italian marine protected areas have become 29 which, together with the two submerged parks, contribute to the protection of  a total of 233,891 hectares of sea. The commitment of ISPRA continues with the conduct of studies functional to the establishment of further new marine protected areas, such as "Capo Spartivento" and "Golfo of Orosei - Capo Monte Santu" in Sardegna, and "Capo d'Otranto - Grotte Zinzulusa and Romanelli - Capo di Leuca "in Puglia.