Protected Area
Identity Card
- Land Surface Area: 1'052.50 ha
- Regions: Sicilia
- Provinces: Messina
- Municipalities: Lipari
- Establishment Measures: D.A. 819/44 20/11/1997
- PA Official List: EUAP1148
Riserva Naturale Orientata Isola di Stromboli e Strombolicchio
Stromboli is a young volcano, born about 40,000 years ago. It is formed by a volcanic cone with three terminal vents which are always active. The main crater opens under the top of the western slope, immediately under the highest peak, and within it, the magma is continuously reboiling. The eruptive activity consists of emission of ashes and vapors and intermittent and intense explosions leading to a violent elimination of ashes, red hot stones, and pieces of reboiling lava.
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Flora
The vegetation of Stromboli includes several rare or endemic species: shrub species like Kochia saxicola, Cytisus aeolicus, which grows only on Stromboli, Lipari, and Vulcano (where it is no longer spontaneous, but is cultivated as fodder for the cattle) and Gasparrini's Broom with yellow flowers blooming in late spring, growing in some areas of the Mediterranean, or herbaceous species like Centaurea aeolica with its purple corolla, the Stock, Micromeria consentina, and others.
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Fauna
As far as wildlife is concerned, there are small mammals like the rat, the mouse, and the wild rabbit. The rich avifauna is characterized by birds which usually cross the archipelago, among which the Cory's Shearwater and Eleonora's Falcon, but also by small birds of the Mediterranean maquis like the Sardinian Warbler, marine predators like the Herring's Gull, and Kestrels, skilled hunters in open spaces and bushes.
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