Pantelleria, the itineraries of the Pantelleria gardens and the vademecum to replicate a garden of this type

A cylindrical artifact made dry with black stones and a tiny opening, so low that to enter it is necessary to bow your head. Inside a single tree, a citrus fruit jealously guarded away from bad weather, frost and wind, grown thanks to the microclimate that is created inside and the humidity that the strange construction manages to retain. It is the Pantelleria garden, one of the most unique rural artifacts on the island of Pantelleria which represents a centuries-old laboratory that has refined agricultural and construction techniques that have been able to take advantage of the scarcity of water resources and extreme climatic events. As part of the campaign Beauty Italy, Legambiente and Unipol Group, thanks to the collaboration of the National Park of the Island of Pantelleria and the Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Sciences of the University of Palermo, surveyed the more than 400 gardens on the island: a unique and complete work that has returned a precious map with photos, description, georeferencing and state of conservation of the gardens. Some of these, by type and location, have now been included in a discovery itinerary to appreciate the island from unusual and particular perspectives. "The study of Pantelleria gardens is particularly important in times of climate change because for about two centuries this type of construction has protected against particularly drought conditions and ensures a microclimate that allows the vegetation of citrus fruits, the plants that are traditionally grown indoors - he declares Edward Zanchini, vice president of Legambiente -. These experiences are of great interest because we need to disseminate good agricultural and land management practices capable of adapting to a climate that is already changing. The Pantelleria gardens are an excellent example of how to combine the constructive wisdom of our ancestors with current agronomic knowledge, with the aim of continuing to preserve the beauty of Mediterranean landscapes, combining it with agricultural productivity, an indispensable premise to ensure the future of the inhabitants and to their territories. We must prepare for a climate that is changing faster and faster, with growing risks, while at the same time we are accelerating on the path of decarbonization ». "We have supported this project with conviction, which responds well to the objectives of the Beauty Italy campaign: climate change, beauty and heritage protection - he explains Marisa Parmigiani, Head of Sustainability of the Unipol Group -. We have chosen not to limit ourselves to the hiking route but to draw up a Guide to spread this practice in all those places that are increasingly exposed to prolonged drought phenomena, precisely because the need to disseminate skills that support resilience practices is increasingly urgent. We hope that garden architects, landscape architects and all those who design green spaces will find in this work new knowledge and stimuli for their planning processes ». The Pantelleria garden can rightly be considered as an extreme case of techniques for using an environmental resource (water deposited by condensation on the surfaces of dry stone walls and vegetation) which is normally neglected in other agricultural contexts, but which Pantelleria, as in many other Mediterranean islands, can become a significant part of the water cycle and compensate for the limited availability of precipitation or irrigation water. All this obviously takes on particular interest in consideration of climate change and the growing shortage of water to be used for agricultural purposes. The census carried out will now be used by the Pantelleria Park both to protect the extraordinary biodiversity present in this context, and to start the restoration and recovery of some of the gardens, the creation of accessible paths that allow the visit, thus defining a new tourist product. to the island. THE the results of the study, in fact, also formed the basis for identifying suitable gardens to be included in a new tourist itinerary, through five potential itineraries: the main one, a “circuit” of about 15 km, includes 24 gardens and can be covered on foot in about 5 hours. This modular itinerary with different degrees of difficulty in the different sections, is also suitable for the disabled, as it partly winds along paths and driveways and sometimes the gardens are adjacent or contiguous to the road. 4 “appendix” itineraries are added: Grazia, with 3 gardens; Cave of the cold, with 4 gardens; Valle di Monastero, with 10 gardens; Muéggen, with 5 gardens. These take their name from the reference districts or in the case of Grotta del Freddo to a place of interest nearby. Four gardens considered to be of interest, are not included in the outlined itineraries, but are reported as places of interest. Among these there are also the Donnafugata garden donated to the FAI and the sunken garden in the Kúddia Bruçiáta crater. The gardens indicated as part of the itinerary can be visited from the outside and sometimes also from the inside. To date, as part of the project, ten gardens have been identified that can be visited inside, thanks to the permission granted by the owners. Among these is the Donnafugata garden donated to FAI. The routes traced only partially coincide with the existing CAI trail network, in other cases, they enhance other areas of the park that are still little recognized. The itineraries include both gardens in a good state of maintenance, and abandoned or partially collapsed. A choice made not by chance, which intends to underline the urgency for their recovery. On https://www.legambiente.it/bellezza-italia it is possible to download the complete study and the map of the itineraries of the Pantelleria Gardens.