Sicily’s first nature reserve, Zingaro, established in 1981, stretches for seven kilometers along the north-western coastline of the Gulf of Castellammare, between San Vito Lo Capo and Scopello – one of the few unspoilt stretches of coast in Sicily, with no roads to ruin the landscape.  

It was thanks to the work of a few forward-thinking environmentalists and the heartfelt participation of the local population that this area escaped the fate of human (over)settlement; in 1980, a protest march blocked the construction of the Scopello-San Vito coastal road, followed by the establishment of the natural reserve in 1981, recognizing it as an area of great environmental interest.