Fantastic victory for Montenegro’s bird paradise!
After years of struggle, the Ulcinj salt flats have finally been declared a protected natural area in Montenegro. For 15 years, Birdlife’s partner organization CZIP (Centre for the Protection and Research of Birds in Montenegro) had been fighting tirelessly to stop a controversial development project that would have destroyed one of Europe’s most important resting and breeding sites for migratory birds. The Off Your Map campaign partners hail this epic victory for nature and people.
For over a century, the precious “white gold” salt has contributed to the well-being of the inhabitants and birds of the Ulcinj saltworks. The huge salt production complex, commissioned in the 1920s until 2013, has transformed the landscape surrounding the small coastal town of Ulcinj into a living example of harmonious cohabitation between nature and man. The annual production of 40,000 tonnes of salt has provided employment and prosperity for the local community, and the richly biodiverse ecosystems of the man-made salt pans have attracted thousands of migratory birds.
The Ulcinj salt works owes its international reputation as the Adriatic’s great bird paradise to the breathtaking flights of pink flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans, as well as over 250 different species of birds. But in 2005, Ulcinj’s golden age came to an end. The saltworks were privatized and the new owner planned to build a luxury resort. When the company went bankrupt in 2013, over 500 workers lost their jobs and the saltworks were left to rot. The water pumps – essential for maintaining the water levels that allow birds to nest and feed – were switched off overnight. The consequences of this action caused immense damage to this fragile, human-created ecosystem; nests were drowned, and since then the number of birds in the saltworks has fallen year on year.
© CZIP.
CZIP has fought tirelessly over the past 10 years to block the development of the tourist complex and restore the saltworks to working order. Without this, according to CZIP, “this place will die”. Despite public support, the road to victory seemed strewn with insurmountable bizarre events, from acts of vandalism to allegations of corruption, to thefts of flamingo nests.
But last year, the battle began to attract international attention when BirdLife joined CZIP and environmental NGO EuroNatur launched the #SaveSalina campaign. The online petition garnered over 100,000 signatures, becoming one of the largest petitions of its kind ever conducted in Montenegro. Things took a decisive turn when it was delivered to Prime Minister Duško Marković in April, and he pledged to save the saltworks.
Finally, on June 25, the local parliament of the municipality of Ulcinj declared the saltworks a “nationally protected natural area
”, due to their particular ecological and cultural values. “This is a great victory for nature in the history of Montenegro,” said Jovana Janjušević, executive director of CZIP. Thanking the 100,000 Europeans who signed the #SaveSalina petition, she added: “All these people have shown that, in today’s world, there is no greater privilege than protecting nature.”
Of course, this also represents a victory for Ulcinj’s birds, such as the Little Tern, Interrupted-necked Plover, Black-winged Stilt or Common Shelduck. In the optimistic words of ornitholgist Bojan Zeković, “there is hope for species that have nested in the past or failed to do so in recent years, such as the elegant avocet, the oystercatcher, the pink flamingo.”
The protection of Ulcinj – a critical site for the Mediterranean network of coastal wetlands – is also “an important piece of a bigger puzzle”, notes Sofia Capellan, Conservation Officer in the “Important Bird Areas (IBAs)” section at Birdlife Europe. Coastal wetlands act as buffer zones in the event of storms or flooding. They play an important role as natural solutions to major challenges facing society, such as climate change, water pollution, human health and natural disasters.
Conservation experts will be keeping a watchful eye on Ulcinj. Its new protected status “must not become a front for the government”, warns EuroNatur Director Gabriel Schwaderer. Now is the time, he adds, to “revitalize the activities of the saltworks”. Once the site is protected and well managed, it could support a dynamic economy combining salt production and sustainable tourism in which people and nature fully benefit from each other.
Greater Flamingo K3 (Ronnie Martin).
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