Sardinia most awarded region. On the occasion of the 2024 edition of the dedicated guide, Legambiente and Touring Club announce the 21 municipalities and 12 lakeside locations awarded with the Cinque Vele. As many as 33 municipalities that are friends of sea turtles. Sicily excluded
Crystal clear waters, places unique for their scenic beauty, attentive to sustainability, but also to the protection of biodiversity. These are the Italian seaside resorts where the Cinque Vele of Legambiente and Touring Club Italiano fly. As many as 21 marine tourist municipalities and 12 lakeside resorts have been awarded the important banner and rewarded today in Rome on the occasion of the presentation of the guide Il Mare più bello 2024, edited by the environmentalist association and the Italian Touring Club.
To drive the top five for 2024 are Pollica, Acciaroli and Pioppi (Sa), the Cilento municipality located within the Cilento Antico district, in Campania. In second place is the municipality of Nardò, in the province of Lecce in the Apulian district of the Alto Salento Ionico, followed by Baunei, in the province of Nuoro on the eastern Sardinian coast. Fourth place for the Domus De Maria locality on the Chia coast, also in Sardinia, and fifth place for Castiglione della Pescaia, in the Tuscan Maremma area.
At the regional level Sardinia is by far the region with the most municipalities awarded with the Cinque Vele; followed by Tuscany and Campania with a patrol of municipalities all in the province of Salerno.
“The five-sail resorts we are awarding this year – he declares Stefano Ciafani, national president of Legambiente – confirm once again the great work and attention that many marine and lake areas are carrying out in the name of environmental sustainability, also in light of the climate crisis that is advancing and which is having increasingly important impacts on the coast and internal areas. Seaside resorts will have to be far-sighted, many already are, and implement more and more adaptation strategies to climate change that take these trends into account, offering their guests holiday proposals capable of combining the coastal proposal with that of the hinterland , integrating it with new experiences and expanding the tourist area towards more bearable temperatures”.
The exclusion of Sicily, for the first year, from the top of the Cinque Vele seaside resorts ranking is newsworthy. Pantelleria (Tp) loses two sails, going from five to 3 banners due to a series of questionable tourist interventions and excessive land consumption which have cost the island in the province of Trapani dearly. Santa Marina Salina (Me) on the island of Salina loses a sail – going from five to 4 banners – for having recorded a decline, albeit slight, in the general values.
From the sea to the lakes
They remain undisputed queen in this section the autonomous provinces of Trentino and Alto Adige in first and second place with the Cinque Vele awarded to the municipality of Molveno (Tn), on the lake of the same name, and to Appiano sulla Strada del Vino (Bz) on Lake Monticolo. Third place for Massa Marittima (Gr), a Maremma town on Lake Accesa, in Tuscany.
At a regional level, Trentino-Alto Adige confirms itself as the region with the most locations awarded with the sustainability banners, followed jointly by Piedmont and Lombardy.
“Since 2000 we have dedicated a guide to the most beautiful sea in Italy – he states Giulio Lattanzi, General Director of the Italian Touring Club – a geographical mapping that photographs the exceptional riches of the Italian seas and lakes and highlights the good environmental, administrative and tourist practices that contribute to conserving them and making them known. An itinerary that stimulates our ability to dream but also, or rather above all, a rigorous examination of the state of health of our seas and the adequacy of environmental policies. The descriptions of places and beaches are accompanied by advice on cultural trips and nature activities, indications on authentic events to participate in and flavors to experience. And, new to this edition, in collaboration with Hsa Italia we have indicated the diving facilities that offer activities for people with disabilities. This volume is also an opportunity to rethink our relationship with the environment by basing it on more stringent logics of sustainability, responsibility, respect for the earth and future generations. A paradigm to which the accurate census of marine environments and locations that we propose here – the result of the long collaboration between Touring Club Italiano and Legambiente, sharing values and distinction of history and missions – has been linked since its origins.”
Sea for biodiversity
From this year, the commitment to protecting biodiversity becomes an important parameter within the guide, also in light of the fact that sea turtles of the species Caretta caretta they are nesting more and more on Italian beaches. “A positive phenomenon – comments Stefano Di Marco, coordinator of the Legambiente project office – but which requires attention. The increase in temperatures, linked to climate change, has expanded the nesting area of this species in the Mediterranean. But at the same time the stretch of sea is also densely populated and a destination for intense seaside tourism, with threats to the nests: light and noise pollution, mechanical cleaning of the beaches, disturbance from people and equipment that hinder the nesting of mother turtles. Hence the idea of reporting turtle friends.”
New this year, in fact, within the guide the most beautiful sea, are also the 33 municipalities that are friends of sea turtles marked with the appropriate symbol “the turtle” and where the sails of Legambiente and Touring Club Italiano fly. From Maratea to the Tremiti islands, from San Teodoro to Gaeta passing through Silvi, Caorle and Castiglione della Pescaia, just to name a few.
To date there are in total 74 municipalities throughout Italy have signed the protocol – among the 354 marine locations examined and 78 lake ones – which includes a series of measures to make the beaches welcoming not only for swimmers but also for biodiversity such as turtles that lay their eggs, led by Campania with 22 municipalities.
The “municipalities friends of turtles” initiative is part of the Life Turtlenest project which aims to protect the nesting habitats of the Caretta caretta increasing the chances of reproductive success and taking into account climate and anthropization. Born thanks to the support of the LIFE program of the European Union, the project is coordinated by Legambiente and brings together 13 partners from 3 different countries (Italy, Spain and France). Also on the front line together with the mutual friends of the turtles are the protected areas (34 which have signed the protocol to date), both of which were awarded today in Rome.
Summary
Article Name
The most beautiful sea: Campania takes first place
Description
Sardinia most awarded region. Legambiente and Touring Club present the new guide The most beautiful sea 2024
Author
editorial board
Publisher Name
the new ecology
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