Isole dello Stagnone di Marsala

The Stagnone area is notably important, both from a landscape and a biological-environmental perspective. The system of salt marshes and various depressed areas hosts a range of plant communities with halophytic and subhalophytic characteristics, which are characterized by highly specialized and rare entities in Sicily, largely due to the uniqueness of the habitat and the regression of such habitats in the regional territory. In 1980, the area was declared to have high ornithological value at the international level and it was included in a special inventory. In 1989, it was also listed, along with the salt marshes of Trapani, as an area of particular ornithological importance in Europe.
The presence of Posidonia oceanica formations, in addition to their importance as nursery areas for fish species, further highlights the unique features of this environment. More than any other, it has maintained a balance between ancient human activities (fishing, aquaculture, and salt production) and its naturalistic and ecological characteristics. Within the Posidonia oceanica meadows,it is possible to find Pinna nobilis, the largest bivalve in the Mediterranean, listed in Annex 4 of the Habitat Directive. The marine area is noted as a preferred location for the speciation of marine taxa.