The Sinis

Discover the Sinis and its treasures with our excursion ...

The area of Oristano is appreciated for its wild nature and its several wetlands, some of which have been declared Sites of Community Importance and Special Protection Areas.

Starting from the southern part of the Province we find the ponds of San Giovanni, Marceddì, S’Ena Arrubia and Corru s’Ittiri, those of Santa Giusta and Pauli Maiori and then those of Cabras, Mistras, Mar’e Pontis and Sale ‘e Porcus.

These wonderful places have in common the presence of a numerous avifauna: herons (Ardea purpurea, Ardea cinerea, Egretta alba), eurasian coots (Fulica atra), litte egrets (Egretta garzetta), purple swamphens (Porphyrio porphyrio), common moorhens (Gallinula chloropus), western marsh-harriers (Circus aeruginosus), black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta), great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo), european shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) and many others..

But the real protagonist is certainly the pink flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus).

Observe flamingos with our excursion ...

With his white body, and his pink wings, beak and paws, this bird always fascinates and intringues adults and children.

His typical color is essentially due to his diet: the small shrimp (Arthemia salina) that he eats contains a particular molecule, a flavonoid, that is then absorbed by the bird.

Protected Marine Area (PMA) – Sinis Peninsula - Mal di Ventre Island

Within this area, special attention deserves the enchanting area of The Sinis Peninsula, declared Protected Marine Area on12th, december 1997. Its creation has been wanted to safeguard and value vegetal and animal biodiversity in all the area, that extends from the cliff of Su Tingiosu in the north, to the Marina of Torregrande in the south, including the Island of Mal di Ventre, the Catalan's Rock and the Capo San Marco's Promontory.

With the erosion of the rocks of the Island of Mal di Ventre, for the action of the wind and the sea, grains were formed, and were slowly taken on the dry land, and day after day have created the white beaches that characterize the coasts of the Sinis.

This area of rare beauty is rich of vegetation and of many terrestrial and marine animal species:

The vegetation is characterized by the typical maquis shrubland with mastic (Pistacia lentiscus), cistus (Cistus spp.), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), phillyrea (Phillyrea angustifolia); helichrysum (Helichrysum microphyllum), Heliantemum (Heliantemum caput-felis), erica (Erica multiflora), scilla (Urginea undulata), ginestra (Genista corsica), limonium (Limonium acutifolium) until the Mediterranean dwarf palm (Chamaerops humilis) and the sea bottom we have wide meadows of Neptune Grass (Posidonia oceanica).

Among animals, apart from those typicals of the marshy areas, we can find the Audouin's Gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii), some species of tortoises (Testudo hermanni and Testudo marginata) and the toad, (Discoglossus sardus). Among the most important marine species we have the precious coral (Corallium rubrum), the yellow cluster anemone (Parazoanthus axinellae) and the noble pen shells (Pinna nobilis).

Discover the Sinis' ancient treasures