TAKING CARE OF OUR VEGETATION AND OUR ENVIRONMENT

Our guests know how important taking care of our vegetation and our environment, which truly hosts us all, is for us (#hostedbynature).

In order to preserve this vacation spot, which you all love as well, we have decided to limit the access points to the green strip in the dunes and to the public beach that cross the biotic corridor. The only gates (which are now automated) for accessing the beach are those at the end of Via Cinghiale, Istrice, Giannaccia/Mare und Isolotto.    

We have interviewed our GM, Thomas Daddi, to discover the reasons for this decision to limit access to the green strip in the dunes. You will find the interview in the lines below.

This summer it will not be possible to access the beach from Via Tuffetto or by the paths from Via Tartarughe and Via Tuffetto. Why?

The most precious resource for those who provide and those who enjoy open-air holidays is the natural environment, which in our case is made up mostly of the characteristic vegetation of the coastal strip. Part of this is located on a sandy but consolidated dune that protects the cultivations and the native and spontaneous vegetation of the entire hinterland (Pian d'Alma) from the salty winds and whose preservation is therefore of public interest.

So what kind of intervention has become necessary?

The area between Via Costiera and the public beach will be accessible only by well-marked paths that lead to the pedestrian gates of Via Cinghiale, Istrice, Giannaccia/Mare and Isolotto. The purpose of this is the repopulation of the vegetation through the replacement of the maritime pines, which have been damaged and decimated by a highly aggressive insect, with Aleppo pines and the planting of new Mediterranean shrubs (mastic, phillyrea, Italian buckthorn and other typical undergrowth). 

Why did we need to make this decision, which could limit the habits of our holidaymakers?

It’s difficult to pinpoint just one reason. One of many can certainly be linked to the anthropization that began over a hundred years ago, when the area that was then made up of sand and marshland was sown by hand with seeds of maritime pine. This then led to a process of colonisation by native plants that would have had a hard time growing without this pine forest. Unfortunately nature struck back with a pest, Matsucoccus feytaudi, which has devastated this pine forests composed mainly of this type of pine. The issue is quite familiar these days: unfortunately it, too, involves a “lack of distancing” between the plants. This leads to infection outbreaks that in the end leave destabilised and barren areas behind. Our efforts are concentrated in these specific suffering areas because this is where nature reacts and leaves space for new species.

Changing the species will also change our forest?

No, that won’t happen. The scents we are used to smelling and the animals we are used to hearing - such as cicadas by day and owls by night - will still keep us company. In the context of natural reforestation we have chosen to carry out the planned interventions using plants already present on site, such as the Aleppo pine, a typical Mediterranean plant that resists well to sea spray and above all to certain pests like Matsucoccus feytaudi. You can admire some of these, which were planted several years ago and are now tall, adult trees, along Via Gambetto and Via PuntAla, where they already offer shade and coolness to those staying underneath them.

How can our guests and our team help?
 

#Enjoyrespectpuntaala is our new communications project created to protect the holiday environment in which we live and work. The hashtag itself contains the expected course of action: to respect a short set of rules, such as not stepping on the vegetation and not invading the protected areas, but rather keeping to the recommended paths.

A bit of TLC for our forest!