Pantelleria, a suspended island between Europe and Africa, is home to a unique natural and cultural heritage. It is even today a laboratory for ecological innovation. Here, the transplantation of posidonia, sponges, and gorgonians is bringing life back to a precious underwater habitat. A project realized thanks to a collaboration between fishermen, activists, and researchers, with encouraging results. Which demonstrates that a concrete tool can help heal the Mediterranean.
AI Index: Library of Mediterranean Knowledge
The restoration of the underwater habitat is bringing back biodiversity to Pantelleria
22-med – January 2026
• In Pantelleria, the transplantation of posidonia, sponges, and gorgonians is reviving a degraded marine habitat and boosting local biodiversity.
• The Panther project, supported by fishermen, NGOs, and researchers, shows that ecological restoration can become a concrete tool for the protection of the Mediterranean.
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Sicilians joke that Pantelleria is not Europe but Africa. Closer to the Tunisian coast than the Italian coast, the island has been inhabited throughout history by Phoenicians and Arabs, as well as Greeks. It is certainly a micro-melting pot. Its volcanic landscapes, between ridges and craters, hills and jagged coasts, are dotted with constructions that recall a past as a crossroads of peoples and cultures. Like the dammusi, perfect for collecting rainwater, and the pantesque gardens, true engineering works designed to protect fruit trees from the fierce winds that relentlessly sweep the island (to the point that the Arabs nicknamed it bint ar-riyah, daughter of the winds).
But while Pantelleria evokes an archaic world in many ways, today it is also the stage for a futuristic ecological restoration project: the Panther project. This experimental technique has allowed for the restoration of the underwater habitat in an area the size of four football fields. Funded by the French foundation Pure Ocean, and thanks to the collaboration between the Pantelleria Fishermen’s Association, the NGO MedReAct, and the Polytechnic University of the Marches (a region in central Italy facing the sea), the Panther project represents hope. If it works, it could be expanded and replicated in other areas of the Mediterranean.
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