The Mal di Ventre Island and Catalano Rock site protects the marine-insular system off the Sinis coast. Mal di Ventre Island is the only emerged remnant of an extensive granite outcrop that in ancient times bordered the entire western coast of Sardinia; the Catalano Rock is a basaltic volcanic dyke. Both are environments of the highest ecological value and are included in the integral-reserve Zones A of the Marine Protected Area.
Site data
- Natura 2000 code: ITB032228
- Designation: Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
- Biogeographical region: Mediterranean (marine)
- Reference directive: Habitats 92/43/EEC
- Territorial managing body: Municipality of Cabras (Sinis Peninsula MPA)
Habitats of Community interest
The site includes marine and coastal habitats of exceptional conservation importance:
- 1120* Posidonia beds (Posidonion oceanicae) — priority habitat, a key formation for Mediterranean marine biodiversity
- 1170 Reefs — submerged rocky walls and coralligenous formations
- 1210 Annual vegetation of drift lines
- 1240 Vegetated sea cliffs of the Mediterranean coasts with endemic Limonium spp.
- 2230 Dunes with Malcolmietalia grasslands
- 5330 Thermo-Mediterranean and pre-desert scrub
Key species
- Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta)
- Common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
- Mediterranean shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii)
- Scopoli’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea)
- Yelkouan shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan)
- Audouin’s gull (Larus audouinii)
- European storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus)
- Fish species of commercial and conservation interest, with populations of dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus), brown meagre (Sciaena umbra), common dentex (Dentex dentex)
For up-to-date official data and the full Natura 2000 Standard Data Form, see the Natura 2000 Network Viewer (opens in a new window).