H i s t o r y   o f   t h e   R e s e r v o i r

The Reservoir Natural of Vendicari, previewed from a law of the Sicialian Region of 1981, has been officially instituted in 1984. Before arriving to the definitive institution the passages and the fights have been numerous that the associations enviromentalists have had to face against the owners and the speculators. The first acknowledgment of the importance of the territory of Vendicari happened in 1974 to work of the Supervising to monuments of Catania that affixed the landscaped tie then ratified in the 1978 from the city council member for the Cultural Assets and Acclimatizes them of the Sicily. This tie has been for many years the only one seizes of the enviromentalists for the safeguard of the area. However he was not sufficient in order to guarantee a complete and effective protection of the area. In the 1977 1160 hectares of territory were declare Oasis to you of faunistica protection, safeguarding migliaia of birds from the doppiette of the hunters. Instead the proposal was rejected in the same year to affix to the area the advanced idrogeologico tie from the Forest Inspectorate of Siracusa.

A remarkable step in ahead was made in 1980, allorchè a regional law concurred with the Company State property Forests of espropriare some thought areas of great natural and landscaped interest (with to the areas of the Reservoir of the Gypsy and of Pantalica). As a result of that, the Forest Inspectorate introduced a plan of expropriation of 484 hectares around marshes. The owners interested from the plan introduced resorted to the TAR that rejected the proposal of the Forest Inspectorate restoring the situation begins them. The Inspectorate introduced in its turn resorted to the Council of Administrative Justice

In 1984 it arrived from the Ministry of the Agriculture and forestry, the declaration of humid zone of international importance for 1450 hectares, for effect of the convention of Ramsar of 1971, an agreement that characterizes the thought humid zones

strategic like habitat of the aquatic birds us second the fixed criteria from the I.R.W.B. (International Waterfowl Research Bureau).

In 1987 the regulations of the area protect with some prohibition came emanated the decree bringing back that in the complex has contributed enough well to the safeguard of the area.

In the june of 1989 the Council of Administrative Justice gave reason to the public agencie definitively concurring the expropriation of lands around marshes and concluding of fact the diatriba judicial that was dragged by now from a decade.

From then today for the truth the participations of the Company State property Forests they have been very little. They are limits to you lessened indispensable to the complete recinzione of the area that is, to the predisposition of 5 huts of observation, of the paths and the relative indications. In the summer of the 2004 they only are starts to you of the important plans of restructure of some manufactured in the pressed ones of the Sveva Tower above all that will be used after center visitors. The Trigona (chiesetta bizantina of the V/VI century d.c.) that completely it was abandoned to if same has been finally cleaned up from the tons of detritus that submergeeed it and the Tonnara it has been put in emergency after remarkable landslides of the previous years that were irrimediabilmente compromising all the structure. One presumes that the same works of pulizia will be carried out for catacombe the bizantine, many di.le which completely otturate from earth and detritus. For the summer of the 2005 many plans they will be capacities a.termine and we will give a complete report of the works in progress and of that it completes to you.