The Marine Reserve of Miramare was established in 1986 with a decree issued by the Ministry of the Environment which entrusted its management to the Associazione WWF Italia ONLUS (Min. Dec. 12 November, 1986). The protected area is located in the Gulf of Trieste, at the foot of the Miramare promontory, on which stands the Miramare botanical park designed in the late nineteenth century by the Archduke Maximilian of Hapsburg.
The protected stretch of coast and sea contains an extraordinary diversity of life and habitats. The seabed – the maximum depth of which is 18 metres – is rocky, pebbly and sandy to a depth of about 8 metres, then muddy. The coast is formed of the limestone rock typical of the Karst, of which the promontory of Miramare represents a small coastal extension.
The entire area included in the protected 30 hectares enjoys full protection, which is to say that any activity that is not directly managed or authorised by the association is prohibited. Since 1998, there has been a second “buffer” area, set up by the Port Authority of Trieste, establishing a further sector of the sea around the reserve in which professional fishing is is forbidden.