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Itineraries
stone quarrying and fishing activities. In the meanwhile, the NW
part of Sicily experiences a significant demographic and economic
increase: very wide sectors of the inland were cultivated (especially
vineyards), while most of the coasts continued to be used as grazing
area and hunting reserve until the end of Bourbon kingdom (1860).
Only drought-resistant trees, such as Olea europaea, Amygdalus com-
munis, Fraxinus ornus, Olea europaea and Rhus coriaria were cultivated
in less suitable coastal areas and even on the slopes of the mountains.
On the mountains near Custonaci and on the island of Favignana stone
quarrying became more and more intense: by the end of the XIX century
there were 130 stone quarries and 550 workers involved in this activity
and rock extraction reached the rhythm of c. 200,000 tons per year!
Between 1930s and 1970s intensive reforestation with non-native
trees (mostly Pinus halepensis and Eucalyptus camaldulensis) have been
carried out on Mt. Inici and Mt. Erice.
As concerns nature protection, Zingaro and Mt. Cofano are nature
reserves, and the coastal capes fall almost entirely within the regional
Natura 2000 network and within the SCA “Monte Cofano, Capo San
Vito e Monte Sparagio”, one of the widest in Sicily. Data issuing from
a recent evaluation of land use patterns within this site highlight the
exceptionally high rate of semi-natural landscape units. In fact, gras-
slands and abandoned fields cover 56% of this area, shrublands and
maquis 17%, woodlands 9%, rocky and/or open areas (incl. coasts)
3%. Cultivated lands, i.e. vineyards, cereal crop fields, olive and al-
mond groves and fruit orchards account for 8% of the whole surface,
urban & industrial areas (incl. quarries) for 5%.
Several co-occurring factors, i.e. the small number and size of the
main towns (Castellammare del Golfo, c. 15000 inhabitants; Custona-
ci c. 5500; San Vito Lo Capo c. 4500; Favignana c. 3500), the rather low
rate of second houses along the coasts and the general trend of land
abandonment on the foothills of the Mts. of Trapani make this coastal
areas one of the best preserved of Sicily. Indeed, seasonal tourism is
the most important economic resource and threat factor at once, be-
cause it has a heavy direct (pollution, disturbance and fragmentation,
deliberate introduction of invasive alien plants, etc.) and indirect
(enhancing illegal building) impact of local habitats, especially near
the main towns, which are among the most attractive and crowded
places of the whole NW Sicily.

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