Mauro Morandi, a aan living on Italian island for 30 years, finally to leave

Mauro Morandi, 81, posted on his Facebook page that he would be stepping down as caretaker of Budelli Island after 32 years.

“I hope that in the future Budelli will be protected as I have protected it,” he said.

Budelli Island is in the Maddalena archipelago, near Sardinia, and is part of a multi-island national park.

It was privately owned until the Italian government took over in 2016, following the previous owner’s bankruptcy.

Mr Morandi has lived on the island since 1989, when he accidentally landed there after his boat ran into trouble.

Fortuitously, he arrived just as the caretakers then were looking to retire.

“I wanted to start a new life close to nature.”

Since 1989, Mr Morandi has lived alone in a former WWII shelter on the island, guiding groups of tourists and taking care of the local ecosystem.

Visitors are banned from swimming in the ocean and from walking on Budelli’s famed pink beaches, but are still able to travel the island on an approved path.

Mr Morandi now plans to move to a different island in the same archipelago, one where he won’t be the only permanent inhabitant.