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Gerry Sorrentino

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (3): 659-664

    Elena Prazzi, Vincenzo Billeci, Giuseppe Maraventano, Gerry Sorrentino, Angelo Dimarca & Giulia Casamento
    Presence of Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia Cheloniidae) on Lampedusa island (Pelagie Islands, Sicily Channel): update on the 2022 and 2023 nesting seasons and on conservation measures
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.3.659.664

    ABSTRACT
    During 2022 and 2023 a total of 22 nests of Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia Cheloniidae) were laid on Lampedusa island. Ovipositions interested 5 different beaches of the island, with the discovery of two new oviposition sites (Cala Spugne and Portu Ntoni). The 16 nests monitored in 2023 represent the highest number of oviposition ever recorded in Lampedusa. For the first time on Lampedusa, nests laid in Cala Spugne and at high risk of inundation have been relocated to Conigli beach, within the Nature Reserve “Isola di Lampedusa”. This practice, together with other conservation measures implemented on the beaches outside the protected area, permitted to protect nests and newborns in sites also affected by pressures connected with mass tourism. Otherwise, the strengthening of the use regulation on Conigli beach, with the introduction of a limit on number of visitors, has further increased the level of environmental protection, thus representing a model to be proposed on the other beaches of Lampedusa outside the Nature Reserve.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (2): 163-168 - MONOGRAPH

    Angelo Dimarca, Vincenzo Billeci, Giulia Casamento, Rosario Di Pietro, Giuseppe Maraventano, Elena Prazzi & Gerry Sorrentino
    Protected Natural Areas and sustainable use: the Spiaggia dei Conigli in the “Lampedusa Island” Nature Reserve (Agrigento, Sicily, Italy)
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.2.163.168

    ABSTRACT
    The Spiaggia dei Conigli, falling within the “Isola di Lampedusa” Nature Reserve (Agrigento, Sicily, Italy) is of great naturalistic interest due to the presence of various habitats of community importance and as a regular oviposition site of sea turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia Cheloniidae). Since its establishment, the Nature Reserve has activated numerous conservation and protection interventions and actions, renaturalization and re-orientation of seaside use, becoming a concrete example of integration between nature protection and territorial promotion. Over the last three years, the management body Legambiente Sicilia has strengthened the regulation of the site by initiating an action to limit attendance, in order to further reduce the impacts on habitats and species and to guarantee a more rewarding and aware of the naturalistic values of a protected natural area. The first results of this action are presented in this paper.