An Italian man is to leave the island he has lived on for more than 30 years after pressure from authorities.
Mauro Morandi, 81, moved to Budelli in 1989.
Last year, however, Mr Morandi said the owners of the island, which is famed for its pink beach, wanted him to relocate.
"I
will leave hoping that in the future Budelli will be protected as I
have protected it for 32 years," he wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
Speaking to BBC Outlook in 2018, the former physical education teacher said he had "always been a bit of a rebel".
"I
was quite fed up with a lot of things about our society: consumerism
and the political situation in Italy," Mr Morandi said. "I decided to
move to a desert island in Polynesia, away from all civilisation. I
wanted to start a new life close to nature."
After
beginning their journey by sea, he and a number of friends landed on
the Italian archipelago of La Maddalena, where they planned to work and
make money to fund the rest of their travels.
But
after arriving on Budelli and meeting the island's guardian, who was
about to retire, Mr Morandi decided to stay - and has remained ever
since, looking after the island and speaking to tourists.
However, he has faced a number of eviction threats over the years.
In
2020 the president of La Maddalena's National Park, Fabrizio Fonnesu,
told CNN that Mr Morandi had carried out illegal alterations to his hut,
a former radio station dating back to World War Two.
But
on Sunday, Mr Morandi announced his decision to leave, telling the The
Guardian newspaper that he would move to a small flat on the nearby
island of La Maddalena: "My life won't change too much, I'll still see
the sea."
