Meet the Man Who Has Lived

Alone on This Island for 28

Years
Mauro Morandi's failing catamaran was carried to Budelli
Island nearly three decades ago by chance. He never left.
Mauro Morandi has lived alone on Budelli Island for 28 years. What I love the most is the silence,
he says. The silence in winter when there isnt a storm and no one is around, but also the summer
silence of sunset.

By Gulnaz Khan

Photographs by Michele Ardu

Seventy-eight-year-old Mauro Morandi often walks along the rocky shores of

Budelli Island and looks out over the disconsolate sea, feeling dwarfed by the
phantom forces that tug and twist the tides.

We think we are giants that can dominate the Earth, but were just
mosquitos, Morandi says.

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In 1989 on a stretch of water between Sardinia and Corsica, with a crippled

engine and anchor adrift, Morandis catamaran was gripped by these same
inexorable forces and carried to the shores of Budelli Island. When he
learned that its caretaker was retiring from his post in two days, Morandi
long disenchanted with societysold the catamaran and took his place.

He has lived alone on the island for the past 28 years.

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Sunlight drenches Morandi's porch, where he likes to dine and read during the summer.

Maddalena Archipelago National Park is comprised of seven islands, and

Budelli is considered the most beautiful among them for its Spiaggia Rosa, or
Pink Beach. The rose-colored sand derives its unusual hue from microscopic
fragments of corals and shells, which have been slowly reduced to powder by
the relentless shifting of the waves.

In the early nineties, Spiaggia Rosa was dubbed a place of high natural
value by the Italian government. The beach was closed off to protect its
fragile ecosystem, and only certain areas remain accesible to visitors. The
island rapidly went from hosting thousands of tourists per day to a single
heartbeat.

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The Spiaggia Rosa, or Pink Beach, derives its rosy color from microscopic fragments of corals and
shells like Miriapora truncata and Miniacina miniace.
Morandi waves to a passing boat from his porch. Although the beach was closed to tourists in the
nineties, visitors can access limited parts of the island.
Im sort of in prison here," Morandi says of his seclusion, "but its a prison that I chose for myself.
During the winter, Morandi likes to watch the monstrous sea swells that are created by strong winds.
Morandi says he never feels lonely because he is constantly surrounded by life.
Morandi gathers herbs behind his home. He has a companion who delivers groceries to the island
every two weeks.
Morandi is an avid reader, especially during the winter months.
Morandi spends many hours looking at the sea. He believes Budelli Island is the quintessence of
beauty.

In 2016, after a three-year legal battle between a New Zealandbusinessman

and the Italian government for ownership of the land, a court ruled that
Budelli belonged to Maddalena National Park. The same year, the park
challenged Morandis right to live on the islandand the public responded.
A petition protesting his eviction garnered more than 18,000 signatures,
effectively pressuring local politicians to delay his expulsion indefinitely.
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Morandi practices tai chi on the beach in the morning, absorbing the sun's rays and inhaling in the
salty air.

I will never leave," Morandi says. "I hope to die here and be cremated and
have my ashes scattered in the wind. He believes all life is eventually
reunited with the Earththat we are all part of the same energy. The Stoics
of ancient Greece called this sympatheia, the feeling that the universe is an
indivisible, unified living organism endlessly in flux.

This conviction in our interconnectedness propels Morandi to remain on the

island without compensation. Every day he collects wayward plastic that
washes up on the beach and tangles with the delicate flora and fauna.
Despite his aversion to people, he guards Budellis shores with fervor and
educates summertime visitors about the ecosystem and how to protect it.

Im not a botanist or a biologist, Morandi says. Yes, I know names of

plants and animals, but my work is much different than this. To be able to
care for a plant is a technical taskI try to make people understand [why]
the plant needs to live.

Morandi believes that teaching people how to see beauty will save the world
from exploitation more effectively than scientific minutiae. I would like
people to understand that we must try not to look at beauty, but feelbeauty
with our eyes closed, he says.

Winters on Budelli are particularly beautiful. Morandi endures long

stretches of timeupwards of 20 dayswithout any human contact. He finds
solace in the quiet introspection it affords him, and often sits on the beach
with nothing but the operatic sounds of the wind and waves to punctuate the
silence.
Im sort of in prison here, he says. But its a prison that I chose for
myself.

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Left:
Morandi collects juniper logs and shapes them into sculptures. He sells them to tourists and donates
the money to NGOs in countries from Africa to Tibet. Though he inhabits a small piece of land, he is
acutely aware of the world at large.
Right:
During all his years on the island, Morandi says he has never gotten sick, a quality he attributes to
"good genes."

Morandi passes the time with creative pursuits. He fashions juniper wood
into sculptures, finding faces hidden in their nebulous forms. He reads
zealously and meditates on the wisdom of Greek philosophers and literary
prodigies. He takes pictures of the island, marveling at how it changes from
hour to hour, season to season.

This is not unusual for people who spend extensive periods of time alone.
Scientists have long posited that solitude generates creativity, as evidenced
by scores of artists, poets, and philosophers throughout the ages who
produced their greatest works in seclusion from society.

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Morandi is silhoutted against the light of the dying sunhis favorite time of day when the world
seems to grow quiet. "We think were super-humans and divine creatures, but were really nothing in
my opinion," he says. "We must adapt to nature.

The benefits of solitude may not be universal. Solitude can be stressful for
members of technologically advanced societies who have been trained to
believe that aloneness is to be avoided, explains Pete Suedfeld in Loneliness:
A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy. However, there are still
cultures around the world in which solitary life remains a venerated
tradition. Buddhist monasticism, for example, encourages spiritual devotion
and scholarly pursuit above seeking bodily pleasures.
But amidst rapid globalization, humans' ability to experience true solitude is
perhaps a thing of the past. In response to increasing development of the
region, an internet company established a Wi-Fi connection on Budelli,
connecting Morandi and his beloved piece of paradise to the world
through social media. Embracing this new form of communication is his
concession on behalf of a larger purposeto facilitate a bond between people
and nature by exposing them to its beauty. A bond Morandi hopes will motivate
people to care for the withering planet.

Love is an absolute consequence of beauty and vice versa, Morandi says.

When you love a person deeply you see him or her as beautiful, but not
because you see them as physically beautiful you empathize with them,
youve become a part of her and shes become a part of you. Its the same
thing with nature.

Michele Ardu is a photographer based in London. Follow him on

Instagram @michelearduphoto.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/europe/italy/photos-of-life-alone-on-a-
paradise-island/