Portovenere Natural Park

Located in the municipality of the same name, the Porto Venere Regional Nature Park has an area of about 400 ha and includes the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto and the Marine Protection Area.

The islands separated from the headland in the late Quaternary period, a “geologically” short time for endemisms to arise, which is the justification for the flora, except in a few rare cases, being the same on the islands as on the landward side.

Several Mediterranean species reach their northern limit of distribution on these shores, which makes the flora of the area of considerable value.

The entire area covers three SCI (Sites of Community Importance) zones: Portovenere-Riomaggiore-San Benedetto, Tino-Tinetto Island, and Palmaria Island. The task of SCIs is to help safeguard biodiversity by maintaining the natural habitats and wild flora and fauna present in the area.

The element that most characterises the park’s ecosystem is the Mediterranean scrub, which varies according to the microclimates present: walking through the area we can encounter areas where there is “garrigue” and then pass through environments in which the scrub shows itself in its various aspects, up to strips of holm oak and pine forests with Aleppo pine mixed with maritime pine.

Another morphology present throughout the park area is karst: this is highly prevalent on Palmaria. On the island there are many caves, narrow and deep wells, and other superficial karst forms such as sinkholes, dolines and furrowed fields.