Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A mountain peninsula along the northern coast of Sicily, west of the town of Castellamare del Golfo, and including the following localities: Monte Sparagio, Monte Cofano, Monte Inici, Capo Puntazza, Lo Zingaro, Monte Speziale, and S. Vito lo Capo. The main habitats are rocky sea cliffs, stony and sand beaches, maquis, garrigue and cultivated land. The main land-uses are cultivation, stock-rearing and tourism.
An important breeding area for raptors and for five of the 20 species of the Mediterranean biome.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threats are the burning of vegetation (in 1996 practically all of `Lo Zingaro' reserve was burned), and afforestation projects.
National Partial
International Unknown537 ha of IBA covered by Regional Nature Reserve (Monte Cofano, 537 ha). 1,600 ha of IBA covered by Regional Nature Reserve (Zingaro, 1,600 ha). Overlaps with SPA.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mount Cofano, Cape San Vito and Mount Sparagio (Italy). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mount-cofano-cape-san-vito-and-mount-sparagio-iba-italy on 23/11/2024.
