Ocean & Shoreline Management 16 (1991) 53-59 ~ ~ The Natural Marine Reserve of Miramare (Trieste, Italy): Tourism and Environmental Education Maurizio Spoto & Carlo Franzosini Natural Marine Reserve of Miramare, Viale Miramare 349, 34014 Trieste, Italy (Received 9 November 1990; accepted 25 January 1991) ABSTRACT During 1989, the management of the marine reserve of Miramare started with the activities that were planned in a programme of environmental education (project 'Scuolambiente'); and introduced activities on behalf of a large tourist public (project 'Seawatching'). These included a visit centre, an information office, a centre for environmental education, and promotional materials presenting the various services that are on offer. Visitors in that year numbered 16 730, 300 of which participated in guided marine visits, and 4430 of which were school visitors interested in the programmes of environmental education. INTRODUCTION The designation of protected marine areas in Italy is a recent development. In 1982, the g o v e r n m e n t passed a law which e m b o d i e d a general project for the protection of national seas; but it was not until 1986 that the law began to operate by the decrees for the institution of the first two marine reserves in Italy: the island of Ustica, near Sicily, and the area of Miramare in the Gulf of Trieste. The natural reserve of Miramare is a protected coastal area, situated in the Gulf of Trieste (in the northern Adriatic Sea), 8 km north-west of the town of Trieste. The area of the reserve is some 30 hectares. The coast comprises 53 Ocean & Shoreline Management 0951-8312/91/$03.50 (~ 1991 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Northern Ireland 54 Maurizio Spoto, Carlo Franzosini karst limestone, a characteristic rock of the 'Carso' of which the Miramare promontory is a small part. The white castle of Miramare overlooks the promontory; built in 1860, for Maximilian of Habsbourg, and at present it is a renowned tourist destination. The bottom of the reserve appears rocky, pebbly and sandy out to depths of 6-8 m; further out, it becomes muddy. The maximum depth is 18 m. The marine reserve embodies the majority of the sea-weed associations of the Gulf of Trieste; and the prohibitions currently in force favour the presence of many characteristic fish species. The management of the marine reserve has been entrusted to the Italian Association for the Worldwide Fund for Nature, on the basis of a special convention stipulated in 1987 by the Ministries of Environment and the Mercantile Marine. In 1987-1988, the first government financial support became available to help set up the marine reserve. With effect from 1990, annual financing will cover the normal outlay for personnel and the over-all management expenses. The operational management of the reserve is handled by a cooperative of biologists, naturalists, scuba-divers, technicians, nature and scuba guides. At the present time, four people are employed full-time, while several others are employed part-time or are voluntary workers; three are conscripts in the civil service. Research and education are the main purposes of the reserve, and these are carried out in cooperation with the Laboratory of Marine Biology of Aurisina (Trieste). Also, in order to increase the public awareness of the activities of the marine reserve, and the preservation of marine environments, there is a visit centre, an information office and such facilities as a terrestrial 'nature pathway'. These were equipped in 1989 to serve tourists visiting the reserve, the castle and the park of Miramare. M A N A G E M E N T PURPOSES A N D METHODS The activities programmed for the Miramare marine reserve concern the conservation, research and cultural objectives required by the law passed in 1982. The management plan is based on various sub-projects: educational-interpretation, scientific, and adequate reserve protection. The sub-project relating to environmental education and interpretation, including some general visiting activities, was the first to be M a r i n e r e s e r v e at Trieste 55 set out. With this programme, it was possible to achieve the following management purposes: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) to improve knowledge of a protected marine environment for the local people, including a clear understanding of the prohibitions relating to conservation; education of young people, using adequate didactic programmes for schools of various levels; promotion of new forms of exploitation of the natural environment for educational tourism; creation of new jobs in connection with the reserve, or with certain external activities also concerning the reserve; to involve the public administration services in long-term projects in environmental education; a proposal to enlarge the protected marine and coastal areas in the Gulf of Trieste, based on the Miramare reserve model. In the programme of environmental education and interpretation, the following systems have been used: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) terrestrial guided and self-guided visits along the coastal nature paths; marine scuba and snorkelling visits, always under guidance, along underwater nature paths; facilities for visits and visitors' reception, such as the information office and visit centre; classroom and laboratory for marine environmental education; programme of didactic activities for the schools; promotional and divulgative material, presenting the various services offered by the reserve to the visitors. O R G A N I Z A T I O N OF VISIT ACTIVITIES (a) Guided and self-guided visits along the coastal naturepath. The promontory of Miramare encloses a botanical garden which contains exotic and also autochthon species, characteristic of the Carso, of which Miramare is a protrusion in the Gulf of Trieste. The nature trail takes account of these botanic features and also offer panoramic views of the landscape surrounding the protected area. The terrestrial visit can be led by one staff member of the reserve (fee-paying), or self-guided using a leaflet. Maurizio Spoto, Carlo Franzosini 56 (b) (c) (d) Guided marine visits with aqualung or by snorkelling. Although the protected area is limited to 30 hectares, it has been possible, thanks to a rational zoning, to develop an underwater path for scuba-divers and for visitors who wish instead to snorkel. These visits are always guided, are carried out on certain days of the week and in specific periods of the year, and are numerically limited, in order to reduce the impact within the protected environment. A talk with slides precedes the marine circuits. The walks pass through different habitats of the reserve, offering to the visitor a direct contact with the protected flora and fauna characteristic of the Gulf of Trieste; and giving the visitor the opportunity to adjudge the effectiveness of the environmental protection effort. Visits involve payments (an entrance charge) for the reimbursment of the guides and other expenses sustained by the reserve. Visit centre and information office. Even the non-swimming visitors could appreciate some of the forms of marine life present in the protected area. In the visit centre, situated in an historical building, there is an aquarium hall, and a hall with panels illustrating the hydrological and geological features of the Gulf of Trieste. By mid-1991, some TV monitors connected with underwater cameras will show the life on the bottom of the reserve. The camera system replaces the use of boats with transparent hulls, which are unsuitable for such a small area and are periodically affected by a high degree of water turbidity. The information office provides details on the guided and self-guided visits in the park. Centre for environmental education. In the course of the academic year, activities involving the schools of the town of Trieste, and the whole region of Fruili-Venezia Giulia, are vigorously pursued. The reserve offers complete didactic programmes which include half-day or one day guided excursions along the coasts of the gulf (marine, karstic-coastal and lagoon environments), practical didactic work in the field, or in the educational laboratory. One important activity in the centre for environmental education was a project supported by the municipal administration of the town of Trieste, called 'Scuolambiente' (schoolenvironment). This project, which began in April 1989, includes practical and theoretical activities concerning the local marine environment. In this way, the reserve was able to influence the public administration as to problems regarding the protection of Marine reserve at Trieste (e) 57 the marine environment; and through the students, to inform the local population as to the diversity of activities organized by the reserve. In fact, some of the private visitors coming to visit the centre during the week-end are those same students, along with parents. The programme of didactic activities in the reserve. The didactic activities organized in the centre of environmental education are addressed to schools of all kinds with programmes set at different levels. They include: --half-day or one day excursions; --practical work in the field, for instance the observation of the tidal environment, where the students learn to identify the major organisms living in this extreme environment; -----didactic cruises which include measurements of sea-water and climatic parameters and the collection of plankton samples; --laboratory observations of the organisms collected in the field. All of the activities of the didactic programme can be carried out in a study week for schools a long distance away, making use of a youth hostel near Miramare marine reserve. (0 Promotional and divulgative material. Each activity and service organized by the reserve, especially the didactic ones, are presented in information leaflets. Particular attention was directed at a series of handbooks written for the observation of underwater environment. In these handbooks, the simple techniques of snorkelling are described. With the aid of a waterproof handbook the identification of the major marine species is possible. TYPOLOGY OF THE VISIT ACTIVITIES During 1989, several types of visits were organized and coordinated among the component sections. Based on a general evaluation, and considering the services requested, it is possible to divide the visitors into the following categories: (a) Scuba visitors: These are usually members of scuba-diver associations. Numerically, they are not an important category, but a demanding one, since they always require a guided service; for this reason, the reserve is provided with guides Maurizio Spoto, Carlo Franzosini 58 (b) (c) (d) trained in a course held by the National Association of Scuba Divers Instructors, who are trained to accompany groups of scuba-divers and in first aid. The number of visits with aqualung is limited to 25 in the period from April to October, for one group of ten scuba divers per week. Scuba visitors during 1989 numbered 250. Visitors interested in guided tours: In this category, there are visitors who are interested in problems regarding the sea and want more information than those using the visit centre; for this kind of visitor, special slide presentations and seawatching activity have been organized. 'Seawatching' is a snorkelling tour, but led by a nature guide inside a protected marine area (both governmental ones, such as Miramare, and privatelyowned ones, such as the six 'Oasi blu' managed by the WFN along the Italian coasts), with explanatory aids such as slide material and a waterproof illustrated handbook. Visitors on guided tours, during 1989, numbered about 50. This new activity, designed for the public at large, was inaugurated at Miramare in July 1989, and the data refer to the period up to the end of 1989. At the moment, the practice of 'seawatching' is open to groups of no more than eight persons, twice per week, in the period June-September. School visitors: This category is the most important for certain periods of the year; and requires the service of a nature guide. It also involves a self-guided visit in the exhibition halls of the reserve and via the nature paths. These visitors are always organized into school classes, and in 1989 numbered '4430. Private visitors: This is numerically the most important and heterogeneous category considering age, culture, and environmental sensitivity. These visitors profit only from the selfguided services in the visit centre and on the outer nature paths; they request reception and information assistance services for the self-guided visit. The presence of one member of staff in the exhibition halls, for the distribution of informative material and for giving explanations, has proved important. For this category of visitors, short walks at the visit centre, including a videofilm and a slide projection, have proved popular. In 1989, the number of private visitors totalled some 12000. The overall total of visitors to Miramare marine reserve was some 16730. CONCLUSIONS The touristic and environmental education projects, such as 'Seawatching' and 'Scuolambiente', promoted by the marine reserve of M a r i n e r e s e r v e at Trieste 59 Miramare in collaboration with the management of WFN-Italy, are aimed to affect a large number of people. Only through the knowledge of the diversity of marine forms of life, and of the complex equilibriums they are involved in can people understand the necessity to regulate, and to control certain human activities. The institution of several protected marine areas is part of these regulations. Continuous updating of the programmes of environmental education, and careful surveys of the impact of the marine visits, will be essential.