NAT-LAB - Portoferraio

Inside the Forte Inglese in Portoferraio, you’ll find the NAT-LAB, Natural History Museum of the Tuscan Archipelago. The NAT-LAB is a natural history lab that hosts and preserves the entomological, zoological, and botanical collections of the Tuscan islands.

The museum was created from the desire of Leonardo Forbicioni to build a home for all naturalists who study, preserve, and love the extraordinary environmental heritage found in the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, a territory that has also been awarded the prestigious recognition as a Biosphere Reserve, under the UNESCO MaB Program.

In the rooms of the Nat-Lab, you can experience, for the short duration of a visit, what it means to be a real naturalist, exploring biodiversity, the extraordinary diversity of life, by observing it in its three kingdoms: earth, water, and air.

The museum visit is an engaging multimedia experience. All museum rooms are equipped with a tablet, placed in the center of the room, which provides additional information about each species on display through in-depth studies, descriptions, photos, and audio of the specimens' calls. The display case of the specimen you're reading about lights up with an innovative system that identifies it and turns on LED spotlights.

The museum also has an APP for Android and Apple that allows you to discover all the specimens on display at the museum with detailed descriptions, photos, videos, and audio: NatLab.

The Mascot

Its name is Meira, and its scientific name is Meira tedeschii. It is a small insect, unique in the world, an extremely narrow endemic species that can only be found on the island of Elba, on the slopes of Monte Calamita in the municipality of Capoliveri, and nowhere else on the planet. It is also the only species of this genus ever found in the Tuscan Archipelago.

Like almost all beetles in this tribe, very little is known about their biology. It lives in an extremely xeric habitat and is found in the substrate accumulated at the base of shrub plants, such as Lavandula, Erica, Cistus, and Helichrysum. It can survive on south-facing soils, even during the scorching summer days, with truly prohibitive temperatures. It likely manages to do this by slowing down its activities during the hottest hours of the day.

On Monte Calamita, it is widespread practically everywhere, from the summit down to sea level, but the massive presence of wild boars, which dig and root up the substrate, altering the preferred environment of this species, could seriously threaten the health of this precious endemic population.

Exhibition Rooms

Room 1 - Naturalists in History
Room 2 - Water Room
Room 3 - Earth Room
Room 4 - Air Room

A journey through the NatLab, at the heart of biodiversity

"The beauty of things exists in the mind of the observer" (David Hume)

The Tuscan Archipelago National Park wanted to celebrate the activities of NatLab, the Natural History Museum of the Tuscan Archipelago at Forte Inglese in Portoferraio, with a video that allows you to explore and discover the wonders of biodiversity from multiple perspectives, a journey to be made alongside Buffon, Linnaeus, Darwin, and many other naturalists.

Enjoy the journey!