Mediterranean mountainous national parks in Italy

Abstract

Prior to the approval of law 394/91 on the protected areas, the Italian State had established only three national parks by specific government decrees; none of these included Mediterranean mountainous territories. The Gran Paradiso National Park and the Stelvio National Park covered some Alpine regions and the Abruzzo National Park covered the Apennine territory in the center of the Italian peninsula, considered to be at the southern edge of the Central European biogeographical region: the southern limit of glacial expansion in southern Europe, during the early Quaternary glacial period. The State's approval of the above-mentioned law for protected areas in the entire national territory specifically excluded the island of Sicily, whose competencies 􏰜 for reasons dictated by the autonomous statute of 1946 􏰜 effectively prevented the establishment of national parks even in representative territories of the country, such as the area of Etna, the highest and most active volcano in Europe (ca. 3200 m asl). Following this national law, the Italian State established several national parks, some of them in Mediterranean mountainous territories, but the situation is therefore heterogeneous, and compared to the number and regional distribution, the mountainous parks 􏰜 Mediterranean in the climatic and biogeographical sense 􏰜 are limited. In Sicily, the regional parks of Etna, and jointly the two parks of Nebrodi and Madonie, would have the dignity of national park: the first is a unique volcanic area in the Mediterranean basin and Europe; the second is a crossroads of plants from three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia); the third is an extensive forest area with high dendrological biodiversity. On this basis, the authors offer an overview of the three Mediterranean mountainous regional parks of Sicily, recalling their main naturalistic features and suggesting ideas for overcoming the regulatory limits that have so far prevented the establishment of national parks in special statute regions, as has happened for Sicily.