On the banks of the Taranto Mar Piccolo, Overlooking the car window on a warm Sunday in November, we crossed the gaze of a Cenerino heron, immersed in a forest of centuries -old olive trees dotted with the white flowers of wild mustard. Always on his coasts, they explain to us, it is not unlikely to come across an expanse of pink flamingos And in its waters the wider seahorse population lives in its waters in the entire Mediterranean.
An explosion of biodiversity characterizes this which is the smallest basin of salted water (technically a coastal lagoon) of our country. For many years it has been the subject of behaviors and choices – individual and collective – who have endangered its survival, but nevertheless today in its two breasts, which from space take on the shape of the infinity, the variety of animal and floral species is surprising.
The threats to which we submitted this natural paradise
In Taranto there is a past, visually embodied by the profile on the horizon of some mammoth industrial structures, that these areas now want to forget or on which they want to change gaze.
Over the years there have been few, in fact, the threats that had to face this ecosystem, starting from the public choice to host here, among other things, military arsenals, a hydroscal, fuel deposits and shipyards. Then there is the painful chapter of the former Ilva who “still picked up from the Piccolo Acqua for the cooling of the steel”, he explains to us Giovanni De Vincentiisdirector of WWF Taranto. An operation, this, which generates non -healthy currents for the ecosystem; “The small sea has been harassing since the end of the nineteenth century: above all the sediments of the seabed were affected.”
Also on the individual front there have been various forms of mistreatment, some of which still persist today: “This sea has been a concentrate of illegality until the early nineties”. Also thanks to a wall erected to separate the military areas from the civil ones, part of the Tarantines for years has not developed a real bond with the Piccolo Mar. Separations like these, physical and mental, often lead not to glimpse the value of an area that has given a lot of human beings a lot since ancient times. The consequence is the mistreatment and neglect of a piece of nature of which we do not feel part, to which we are not connected.
Of those individual mistreatment remains trace in episodes of illegal fishing that, in a basin like this, Today regional park where any form of fishing is prohibitedthey are a risk to biodiversity, for life forms that populate the small sea.
How is the small sea today?
Despite everything we have subjected to, the small sea survived: nature every now and then, incredibly, gives us a second possibility And even just for this we should learn to be more respectful towards the planet that hosts us.
De Vincentiis defines his “discreet” state of health: thanks also to the vital contribution of the citri, underwater sources of fresh water, this ecosystem has shown an exceptional resilience, subject to study by many universities. «Today it is constantly monitored and we know that in the second breasts its waters are in class Athe category to which the bathing sites that obtain the blue flag belong ». It is no coincidence that the famous Cozza Tarantina, a very tasty Slow Food garrison that makes a fixed couple with the tubettini in the first Tarantino who is there, is raised in the Piccolo Mar Piccolo.
The health of its waters was also ratified by a particular judge, the seahorse. This fish with poetic appearance «is a biological indicator of water safety. The small sea houses the highest concentration in the Mediterranean of two species of marine horse, Hippocampus Hippocampus And Hippocampus Gutulatus». This particularity is also the subject of studies and repopulation initiatives that involved the Genoa aquarium, which for a period has performed the function of nursery For 150 Baby Cavallucci, then freed again in these waters.
Not only fish, the wealth above the water hair
The diversity of living beings that populate the small sea not only regarding its waters.
On the coasts of his second breast, in fact, the Sailing reserve extends, a treasure chest of biodiversity managed by the WWF since 1991
Although following some fires for security reasons, Visitors remained for several years, De Vincentiis anticipates that will reopen to the public in the early months of 2025. To organize a visit here, simply contact the WWF Taranto at one of the contact details you find On this page.
Initiatives that allow to enhance the fauna and flora of the Piccolo Mar, moreover, should then be born once the regional park has entered the full of its functions, alongside the activities of discovery of this territory organized by private realities such as the Relais Històa receptive structure with a peaceful luxury that stands on the site of an ancient Magnogreco settlement and which organizes among other things walked on horseback along the coasts of this basin.
Changes the vision of the Piccolo Mar and the collective commitment
An excellent news is that according to De Vincentiis “the Tarantini begin to change the vision of the Piccolo Sea”. In short, that sense of care of a shared heritage made available by nature.
“It is up to all of us to protect our sea, where everything we enter the soil ends,” he confirms Angelo Varvaglionewhich coordinates the initiatives to increase the sustainability of the family cellar, whose Masseria Pizzariello stands a couple of kilometers from the Piccolo. «It is also up to companies to invest to combat and adapt to climate change; In the agricultural sector we already find ourselves in front of a spanned natural cyclewith plants that produce new leaves when they should be dormant ».
Therefore, space for technology which, together with the priority measurement and therefore reduction of impacts, can help to minimize the use of fertilizers. “We work in organic, but thanks to cutting -edge software and the use of drones capable of understanding the needs of the plants with great precision, we can reduce the contribution of nutrients such as magnesium, potassium and nitrogen to the bone, and the use of water resource, which is increasingly precious for all of Southern Italy and beyond”.
Initial investments that lead to results that also smile at economic budgets: in addition to reducing the costs for fertilizers (also thanks to the use of a battalion of earthworms which produce the soil for the soil circularly), in the years in which in these areas some realities have recorded up to -40% in the production, the Varvaglione winery has grown by 5%; “In three or four years you are already a return of the initial investment, which for those who work according to traditional schemes may appear superfluous”.
A setting, this, which has led Varvaglione to focus on renewable energies, with a park of photovoltaic panels which, once in operation, will allow to enter the public network 30% of the energy produced, with the creation of an energy community.
And it is precisely the sense of community, of that intention to put the small efforts of each common factor the key to preserving treasure chests of beauty such as Taranto’s small sea.
Source: Vanity Fair
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