Asinara Island, in front of the north-western point of Sardinia, is one of the least known places in Italy. For over a century it has been forbidden to visitors and, except for local fisherman with special permission (withdrawn 15 years ago), the presence of human beings on the islands is limited to a small penal settlement. This is why there has never been a documenary about the island until now. And the island's future? Environmentalists want to make it a national park, but the locals have plans to develop it for tourism. There are also proposals to keep it as a penitentiary and, recently, an outrageus proposal to sell this state property to private people. It is easy to understand why Asinara arouses so much interest: 51 sq.km of Meditteranean wilderness, 100 km of virgin coastline, white crystalline beaches, granite cliffs with bays abounding in fish, meadows and ilex groves where you can find flocks of mouflon and very rare plants. However, the most interesting aspect from a naturalistic point of view are the 51 species of birds (32 protected). Seven species appearon the WWF's red list. The Corsican gull has always nested here and is now in danger of extintion. The pilgrim hawk, the green cormorant and the buzzard all nest on the island. The greatest attraction, however, is the very rare Sardinian donkey with blue eyes whose origin is as yet unexplained. In the Asinara paradise it is interesting to discover the biological equilibrium among the species, in this micro-ecosystem that has remained intact for so long.