Lights and shadows compete for the church of Santa Sofia, shrouded in the morning silence. The sun heats the sandstone of the high bell tower, enhances it against the blue sky. The facade remains in shadow, the Gothic rose window circled in red bricks stands out, a great eye on the symmetry of the doors. Nobody walks the streets of the center of San Vero Milis, one of the richest, when it comes to history, among the municipalities that touch the Maristanis wetlands.
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“The truth / lies / in nuances”. “A man is always a victim of his own truths. When he has recognized them, he is unable to detach himself”. And again: "Sometimes a man stumbles upon the truth, but in most cases he will get up and continue on his way". Thus begins, with Bukowski, Camus and Churchill, among others, the the FAI (Italian Environmental Fund) Autumn Days in Arborea, dedicated "to the search for historical truth". In front of the town hall, two volunteers alternately read the aphorisms at the last turn of the visitors.
It is almost as if the scrub opens only at one’s passage, and is then ready to close itself again, like water. A swarm of small fleeing birds rises from the low and compact tangle. They spread out in the clear autumn sky to settle and hide together in another point in the sea of bushes. The Mistral, which is used to beat furiously here, today is only in the shrubs, forced towards the hinterland as if it were a hairdo in a face. Then the blanket thins out, the old house of Don Efisio Carta appears before the Spanish tower, and the bright sea stretched to the horizon.
With the message "Let's give a hand to the Sea..." Stefano Pia, "KM 0" photographer from Mogoro (Oristano area) won the #CoastDayInSardinia Photography/Video contest which took place during the Coast Day on Instagram and Twitter from 25 to 29 October 2020.
The tallest body of the Sassu drainage pump, with all its rationalist modernity, always looks like a submarine in the act of leaving the surface and sliding into the abyss.
Eleven municipalities in the Oristano area joined together for the protection and management of the wetlands and marine areas of the Gulf of Oristano and the Sinis Peninsula.
This morning, some of the mayors and representatives of the 11 municipalities involved in the Maristanis project including Oristano, Cabras, Arbus, San Vero Milis, Arbus, Santa Giusta, Terralba and Guspini met at the headquarters of the Regional Department of Environmental Defence, in the presence of Regional Councillor Gianni Lampis, to present the Coastal Wetlands Contract Action Plan.
Although busy with fishing, the gray heron retains the solemnity of the border sentinel. Graceful, elegant and austere, he observes the canoe passing its position on the rock and entering the lagoon.
At the end of the evening there will be over 80 kilos of waste collected in the port of Torregrande, Cabras: lots of cigarette butts, plastic of all kinds, polystyrene, glass, cans, a rusty tube, ropes and fishing nets. Everything seems perfectly in order to the distracted eye. Rarely is it when you go hunting.
"You are crazy, they told me when I decided to buy these lands. It was the early 70s. Together with Piscinas, the area made the largest desert in Europe. The reclamation of ETFAS (Sardinian Land and Agricultural Transformation Authority) eliminated the instable dunes, however eroded by the wind, in the 1950s, then proceeding to plant the pines in San Vero Milis and Narbolia.
The flock does not show itself with the flicker of a fish in the air. Even in the gray water moved by the Mistral wind Giovanni senses a movement, a whirlpool. He stops the boat where the Merceddì pond touches the gates of the bridge. Beyond the slits of the old structure the waves of the open sea beat insistently. "This point is good," says Giovanni. Then he raises from the bottom of the boat, a brand new and blue "ciu", the first head of the nets, tied to a float. The "Margiaga", crasis of Marica, Gianluca and Gabriele, names of Giovanni's sons, swiftly starts on the rough surface of the pond.
“I started off in 2015. By that time I had been jobless for three years. For eighteen years I was a swimming coach in the municipal pool of Oristano. The refurbishment works kept it closed for five years. My house had a lot of space, and I needed to find a job that put me in contact with people. With the help of my daughter Francesca I started the beautiful adventure in the Terre del Sinis B&B". Rita Circu tells her story sitting in front of the "honeysuckle" room, dedicated like the others to the vegetation that populates her beloved Sinis. Around her the garden dotted with peasant monuments, the ancient grinding wheel for wheat, the pitcher, the drinking trough for animals that has become a flower pot.
“Carola was five years old in 2014. She was falling asleep while Luigi and I were discussing the right name for the guesthouse, our new adventure. I have a passion for the towers that dot the coasts of Sardinia, so we were looking for inspiration starting from one of their names. Carola said: mom, the most beautiful tower is Torremana ... meaning “Torre Manna” in Sardinian language, or Torregrande in Italian, the big Spanish construction that announces the marina of Cabras. Only later we discovered that Torremana is also a South American surname".
- Limolo, a harbour of peace in the heart of the Oristano Gulf
- The fishermen of Cabras: the pond is our home
- Adapting to climate crisis: a drone to reduce water consumption in agricolture
- Wetlands and agriculture, two weapons against climate change (and water conflicts)
- Distanced but united, the club Friends of Maristanis gears up for the after-quarantine phase.
- Responsibility and hope, fishing in Maristanis at the time of coronavirus
- First time in 50 years I water my fields in february": climate change land on Oristano's agriculture.
- A club to protect the Oristano wetlands: "Friends of Maristanis" is born
- A clean up at the ancient Othoca's shores: a bright morning of environmental education in Santa Giusta
- The Recovery Center of Sinis, a special hospital for endangered turtles