Sites of Community Importance (SCI)
According to the Community Directive HABITAT 92/43, three areas within the territory of Bergeggi have been chosen by Regione Liguria and by the Department of the Environment as Sites of Community Importance (SCI) for the presence of vegetation habitats and animal and vegetable species of considerable naturalistic interest at a European level.
The three SCI have been called:
1. Rocca dei Corvi - Mao - Mortou
The site is important for the floristic and vegetation contrasts linked to the differences of the geological substrata (among which, the dolomitic limestone seem to be particularly influencing the substrata), of the exposure allowing the presence not very far from the sea and at not very high altitudes of fragments of moorlands with calluna and of beech tree woods. Some aspects of Mediterranean maquis and of cork oak wood seem to be in good conditions. The xerophilous grasslands, locally rich in orchids and in remains of riparian woodlands, are among the most interesting habitats.
The SCI including Monte Mao is characterized by the variety of habitats (temporary habitats and meadows on a calcareous substratum) and by the different endemic or rare species like Campanula sabatia and Pelodytes punctatus.
Despite being a partly degraded habitat without permanent ponds, the former dolomia quarry situated near the top of the Mountain has been colonized by rare Amphibians of considerable interest like the Parsley frog, the European Green Toad, and the Common tree frog.
2. Bergeggi Island - Punta Predani
The area is made by 2 subsites: an insular site and a coastal site, directly in front of it.
There are important aspects of karstic and marine erosion (caves with finds witnessing the presence of past bradyseisms) on a dolomitic substratum. The island of Bergeggi presents a middle-high rocky coast, while the area of Punta Predani has the bottom of the valley crossed by a small rio.
Among the present habitats with more scientific value there are the fragments of Mediterranean maquis with Arborescent spurge and the extremely reduced aspects. On the cliffs near the sea, subject to the splashes of the waves, there are aphiolitic communities.
3. Noli Seabed - Bergeggi
The site, divided into 4 subsites, is characterized by Posidonia oceanica beds and by rocky stretches with Coralligenous.
The southernmost site, in front of Noli, includes a P. oceanica bed of about 40 ha, which in its northern part, at the border with Spotorno, becomes wider and gets closer to the shore.
The other three subsites include a Posidonia bed extending between Spotorno and Bergeggi, with a surface of 80 ha. The bed is fragmented and presents various signs of regression and areas characterized by dead "matte", probably because of the re-feeding carried out in the last decades.
The seabed in front of the calcareous cliff of Bergeggi and the homonymous island has a considerable naturalistic interest.
Bergeggi Marine Cave is a considerably diversified environment rich in biological populations and in species.
As far as the island is concerned, the bathymetric gradients and the various exposures of the substratum favored the settlement of several biological associations, among which the Coralligenous associations, with a high specific richness.
