Réserve naturelle des îles Cerbicale, Nature reserve off Porto-Vecchio, France

Réserve naturelle des îles Cerbicale covers 36 hectares of land across four islands — Pietricaggiosa, Piana, Maestro Maria (Île Plate) and Forana — plus two offshore rocks, the Île du Toro and the Vacca rock, below the Pointe de la Chiappa lighthouse. The granite islands are clad in dense maquis 2 to 3 metres high on Piana and Forana, while sandy Maestro Maria carries sand lilies.

The French state established this archipelago as a nature reserve in 1981 to protect its ecological resources. The formal designation marked a turning point in recognizing the value of these marine spaces.

The names of the islands come from Corsican: Pietricaggiosa, Piana, Forana, and Maestro Maria, also called Île Plate, plus the offshore Île du Toro and the rocher de la Vacca. Lacking drinking water, the islands appear never to have been inhabited, so no village, chapel, or field marks them; only the seabirds and the maquis remain.

Visitors reach the islands only by boat, while landing, fishing, and hunting are prohibited. These rules allow you to observe wildlife and the natural environment from a safe distance.

The islets of Toro and Vacca lie furthest offshore, and on Toro the pale swift population is preyed upon by black rats, prompting rat-eradication campaigns. The reserve also holds one of France's few known island colonies of little egret, which has nested again on one of the islands in recent years.