The Platani River is one of the most important in Sicily.
It was, evidently, navigable and was an important means of communication for the Greeks and company. Once covered by a thick forest (like all of Sicily) today its area is characterized by a poignant landscape as bleak a sit is fascinating: wheat fields, rocks that rise suddenly, an archeological city here and there, bits and pieces, plateaus, hills…
The Platani, after a long journey of some 110 kilometers, flows into the sea near Capo Bianco a splendid ciff that consists of calcerous marl overlooking the reserve.
The summit of Capo Bianco is the site of Eraclea Minoa, a Greek colony of the Mycenaean Age (6th century BC).
The place makes the migratory birds happy, the avocet, the black-winged stilt, the peregrine falcon and the marsh harrier.
There are plover nests, the coot and the pendulum, passerine with its characteristic nest in the shape of a saddle bag.
On the beach of the reserve the Caretta caretta (photo) sea turtles have returned to spawn after a long absence.