Scandola, world Heritage Site
Founded in 1975, the Reserve of SCANDOLA consists of 919 hectares of land and 750ha at sea.
It was listed by UNESCO as World Heritage in 1983.
The site was first classified as World Heritage for its great landscape interest and its degree of naturality. Then it was classified as a Natural Reserve for its flora and fauna interest and especially because of its contribution to the protection of species endemic to Corsica. It was the first site in France dedicated to preserving the both terrestrial and marine natural heritage.
The part of Integral Réserve of Scandola is a reference in the Mediterranean, internationally recognized by the scientific community.
It is considered as a place of prime importance in regards to marine biodiversity (extinct species from a long time in the Mediterranean still live here, and even more exceptional, we continue to discover new species).
Scandola is the tip of a large volcanic complex (700 km2).
The peninsula is composed of rocky structures in 'Caldera' which correspond to an ancient volcano collapsed in the sea. There are many rock formations from this volcanism : lahars, rhyolitic orgues, pyroclastics and red granite cliffs.
Severe regulations were put in place that prohibits visitors to spend the night in the reserve (whether on land or at sea), to picnic, to make fire, to pick up or drop anything and, of course, hunting and fishing.
As a general rule, people have to leave a minimum trace of their path.
The sum of these prohibitions allows optimum preservation of the site and today the state of conservation of this site which is over 40 years is unique.