More than 30 years ago, Mauro Morandi was attempting to sail from Italy to Polynesia when he ended up on Budelli, a small private island off Sardinia. Morandi, now 81, never left and eventually became the island's official caretaker. Above is a Great Big Story about Morandi from two years ago. La Maddalena's National Park, owner of the island since 2015, has been trying to evict Morandi to renovate his shack into an environmental observatory. Morandi announced this week on his Facebook page that he's decided to leave. From The Guardian:
"I have given up the fight," he said. "After 32 years here, I feel very sad to leave. They told me they need to do work on my house and this time it seems to be for real." National park authorities have argued that Morandi made changes to the building without the required permits.
Morandi, originally from Modena in central Italy, said he was moving into a small apartment on nearby La Maddalena, the largest island of the archipelago. "I'll be living in the outskirts of the main town, so will just go there for shopping and the rest of the time keep myself to myself," he said. "My life won't change too much, I'll still see the sea."
As for Budelli, he said: "I hope that someone can protect it as well as I have."
