Breadcrumb > Progetti
Egadi-Enea Project
Sustainable tourism: a pilot intervention in the Archipelago of the Egadi Islands conducted by ENEA.
The project comprised different activities
An effective environmental protection cannot disregard a sustainable development of tourism. This requirement takes a particular significance in the case of smaller islands where the fragility of ecosystems may be altered by seasonal tourist flows.
Developing an Eco-friendly tourism not only does it mean to perform a proper management and conservation of the natural and landscape resources but also to re-qualify the supply of goods and services by creating the conditions for a financial return.
For a sustainable tourism in the archipelago of the Egadi, the ENEA project envisages the implementation of interventions in the following areas:
- Sustainable management of water resource: treatment and reuse of waste water, and reduction of consumption. A small house of public water was built on the island of Favignana. Resident citizens, in possession of a special free card, are entitled to access the service.The house delivers up to 10 litres per head of sparkling or still water per day
- Sustainable management of the waste cycle and construction of a pilot composting-plant. The plant was assigned to the ecological island of Favignana and it is at the disposal of some resident sample families
- Sustainable management of natural resources: studies on the quality of the marine-coastal environment. Environmental and chemical monitoring activities were carried out on marine waters
At the same time, a project leading to an “environmental certification” has been launched, aiming at improving the environment and, in the longer term, at the awarding to the Archipelago of the EMAS recognition. The EMAS label certifies the commitment to respect for the environment and its conferral would lead the Egadi to be the first example of insular locality certified at national level.
The intervention, which involved local tour operators, aimed at a greater qualification of the tourist offer as well as a better use of the existing facilities throughout the year.
Description of underwater itineraries. The primary tool for the conservation of marine biodiversity and its resources is to make known and enhance the importance of biological and natural emergencies on the territory.
The Marine Protected Area of the Egadi Islands, managed by the Municipality of Favignana, has put in place initiatives and direct actions to disseminate knowledge and safeguard the marine biological and environmental resources with the aim of increasing their availability and at the same time protecting them from a not ecologically sustainable use. Greater knowledge, in fact, means greater possibilities of valorization, protection and use of the resources. The creation of a website is among such initiatives, as it offers an easily accessible means of communication and disclosure of information contributing to the diffusion of marine environment knowledge, a field which is often confined to the domain of expertise alone. The website represents an educational product illustrating and describing, as a first step of a 'project idea', a selection of underwater itineraries around the islands of Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo, highlighting the submerged natural beauties and peculiarities. It addresses locals, tourists, divers, and lovers of the Egadi Archipelago, and it can also represent a useful tool for the operators who work in the Protected Area of the Egadi Islands in various capacities. http://progettoegadi.enea.it
Two publications have also been realized containing the descriptions of the underwater itineraries, one concerning the island of Favignana and the other related to Levanzo and Marettimo.