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Cinque Terre and Tuscany cooking Tour (3
nights)
Tuscany Cooking & Touring Tour
(5 nights)
Tuscany Cooking break (3 nights)
Tuscany Truffles Autumn Cooking & Touring
long week-end (2 nights)
Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre
5 Terre the villages
5 Terre Marine Park
Trekking 5 Terre
Trek Riviera Levante
La Spezia - Deiva
The Romans
Levanto
Gastronomy 5 Terre
Cinque Terre wine
The Poet's Gulf
Poets' Gulf
La Spezia
La Spezia - the Gulf
La Val di Magra
La Val di Vara
La Via Francigena
Lerici
Lerici itineraries
Luni archeological site
Portovenere
Gastron. Golfo Poeti
Riviera di Levante
Camogli
Levanto
Portofino
San Fruttuoso
Santa Margherita
Sestri Levante
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Cinque Terre from Monterosso
Photo (c)
Luca Baldassarre click-it to enlarge
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Cinque Terre Marine Park
Terraces in the sea
The sea and land of the Cinque Terre together, form a unique and suggestive
landscape: mountains, that reach 815 meters, descend suddenly towards
the sea, their heights range from 500 to 2,500 meters. So that the
terraces downgrade to the underwater, reaching remarkable depths.
Along the enchanting coast cliffs and precipices alternate on the sea, bays, small
beaches and ravines between the rocks, caves.
Sea beds, that downgrade rapidly, are rocky near the coastline and sandy and
pebbled at their major depth. The presence of animal and vegetable
creatures in the stretch of sea, that goes from the area of Punto Mesco
to that of Punto Montenegro, is particularly rich and varied and
influenced by the types of bottoms and depths.
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The rocky walls, as well as the numerous banks and isolated sea rocks, are
populated by different, very colored yellow, red, dark claret red,
orange, pink "gorgonie", till the white of the "Eunicella verucosa", a
white gorgonia rare in the Mediterranean, but widespread in the Atlantic
Ocean.
Along the coast the oceanic "Posidonia" is also present, a plant due to its dense
distribution forms "prairies". The steep rocky sea bottoms of Punto
Mesco and Capo Montenegro are also rich, even at low depths, in coral
formations, including very rare black coral.
Punta Mesco and Capo Montenegro, that represent the sea areas of major value and
variety and where one encounters the rare white "gorgonia" and very rare
black coral, are subjected to major protection (zone A and zone B).
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But there is another presence that makes the sea of the Cinque Terre even more
unique: whales.
It's no coincidence that this stretch of sea is inserted in the
Sanctuary of the Cetaceo, an international protected area of upcoming
institution. These are only some of the environmental characteristics
that have motivated the foundation of a protected marine area of the
Cinque Terre, to preserve the biodiversity and habitats, regulating the
usage and activities that are carried out there.
Without penalizing the local population, from the protection of a marine area so
particularly important and beautiful, on the contrary they can profit
from the new job opportunities and well-being. A careful and correct
evaluation of the places and resources allow in fact the promotion of
riches, products and unrepeatable emotions and they offer that
particular quality of Mediterranean life unique in the world, patrimony
of today's generation and those of the future.
Aims of the protected marine area
The protected marine area of the Cinque Terre was founded with a ministerial
decree on December 12, 1997.
It comprises four communes:
Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Moneross al Mare, Levanto.
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The establishment of the protected marine areas is provided by the two
national standards: law n. 979 of December 31, 1982 (Provisions for the
safeguarding of the sea) and law n. 394 of December 6, 1991 (Set of laws
for protected areas).
The goals of a protected marine are like the Cinque Terre are:
- environmental protection of the interested marine area.
- safeguarding and evaluation of biological and geo-morphological
resources in the area.
- diffusion and popularisation of ecology and the biology of marine
environments and the coastlines of the natural marine protected area
and the peculiar environmental and geo-morphological characteristics
of the area.
- fulfilment of educational programs for the improvement of culture in
the field of ecology and marine biology.
- fulfilment of study and scientific research programs in the sectors
of ecology, marine biology and environmental safeguarding, to assure
systematic knowledge of the area.
- promotion of socio-economic development compatible with the area's
naturally landscaped importance, and also privileging traditional
local activities already present.
- promotion of development compatible with the above-mentioned goals,
for activities relative to the canalisation of the flow of tourists
and guided visits, the determination of the relative discipline
ought to provide specific facilities for collective means of
transportation preferably managed by citizens residing in the
communes of Vernazza, Monterosso al Mare and Levanto.
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Safeguarded areas
In the zone A (integral preserve) the following is allowed:
- Access to personnel of the managing agency for maintenance activity
as well as scientific personnel for the development of rightly
authorized research.
- Guided visits even underwater, regulated by the managing agency,
according to pre-established routes, adhering to the requirements of
strict environmental protection.
- Boat mooring for the above-mentioned activities.
- Bathing, as disciplined by proper regulations according to the
managing agency.
- Access, but no mooring and anchorage, for small boats without
motors, whose numbers will be regulated by the managing agency.
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In zone A, instead, any form of sportive or professional fishing is forbidden.
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In the zone B (general preserve) the following is allowed:
- navigation of boats and pleasure boats for service activities and
authorized scientific research.
- mooring of private and public boats, in areas purposely designated
by the managing agency.
- private fishing with selective equipment that doesn't damage sea
bottoms (fixed nets, circumvention with boats within 10 meters of
the coast) only for professional fishermen resident in the communes
included in the natural protected marine area.
- private fishing with selective equipment that doesn't damage sea
bottoms (fixed nets, circumvention with boats within 10 meters of
the coast) only for professional fishermen resident in the communes
included in the natural protected marine area.
- underwater immersions, compatible with the safeguarding of sea
bottoms and marine organisms.
- bathing
- sportive fishing with fishing line and fixed rods.
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In zone B it is, instead, forbidden to trawl fish as well as underwater fishing.
In zone C (partial preserve), professional, sportive and underwater fishing is
regulated by the managing agency.
Text courtesy of
APT Cinque Terre
36 Hours in the Cinque
Terre, Italy, an article by the New York Times
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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