In 2025 we dream of a series of simplifications, facilitations and solutions for the world of Italian yachting. Because boating is beautiful and should be accessible to as many people as possible. In 2024 came the boating license, there was the updating of the necessary equipment and the simplified title for 2nd class officers to, in a nutshell, be able to skipper in good standing. There are still, however, many unresolved issues, but they deserve attention because they affect everyone. Among these, Marine Reserves are definitely a “hot” topic. The reason is quickly said: in these portions of the coast, among the most beautiful in Italy and the world, it is very difficult to navigate.
Marine reserves
Our country has the largest network of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean: there are 29 of them with a total area of more than 200,000 hectares at sea with about 700 kilometers of coastline to which 2 submerged marine parks, 2 national parks with protection at sea and the International Marine Mammal Sanctuary (Cetacean Sanctuary) should be added. It can be said that the “best” of our sea is under protection, but it is complicated to navigate it.
The problems
Each reserve, however, although with common general rules, decides autonomously the areas usable to recreation, the periods, the methods of access, the need for permits and possible fees. A big cauldron where the rules are not easily understood or one has to “reconstruct” them by scrolling through decrees, resolutions and circulars.
Often then buoy fields or equipped mooring fields are lacking or insufficient and access or booking arrangements cumbersome.
Our proposal
The best way to learn about (and appreciate) marine reserves is, precisely, from the sea. Therefore, it is necessary to balance the needs for the protection of a fragile environmental asset with low-impact nautical tourism.
The latest amendments to the Nautical Code allow for buoy camps and equipped moorings in both general reserve ( B ) and partial reserve ( C ) areas, so there is a need for management bodies to take action in this regard. It would also be useful to create efficient and understandable online sites with up-to-date maps of moorings and the possibility of making reservations.
Also good to deseasonalize the flows of boaters with ad hoc initiatives (discounted rates, organization of shore excursions, etc.).
All episodes:
- Boat scrapping: the French model
- Skipper in good standing
- Telematics register
- Marinas and berths
- Marine reserves
- Foreign flag: Italian or foreign?
- Boating license: it’s a fee alarm
- Social boating
- Boating license on app
- European boating license
- Regions: resource for boating
- Vessels abroad
- First Aid Kit
- Boating promotion
- Controls at sea
- Life rafts