NUOVE AREE DI RILEVANTE INTERESSE NATURALISTICO NELLA SICILIA CENTRO-OCCIDENTALE: PROPOSTA DI TUTELA

New areas of outstanding natural importance in central-western Sicily: a proposal for their conser- vation. With a view to the expected updating of the Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and the following designation of the Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) by the Italian Ministry according to the Council Directive 92/43/EEC, some areas of outstanding natural importance in central-west- ern Sicily, currently not protected, are identified and described. Fifteen areas of various sizes are located in five different provinces (Trapani, Palermo, Agrigento, Caltanissetta and Enna); here sev- eral habitats of Community interest, including some prioritary ones, and numerous endemic and/or rare species of wild flora and fauna, often threatened by different factors, are present. For these areas the proposal of inclusion in a SCI has been submitted to the competent authorities.