Saltpans are a uniquely important kind of Mediterranean wetland. Often part of larger wetland complexes, they’re mostly found in estuaries or marshes and tend to be located near cities. Although they’re artificial constructions, when saltpans are well managed over time they provide complex and critical ecosystem services, and support a great deal of biodiversity, particularly birdlife. As well as birds which live there permanently or visit them to breed or overwinter, saltpans are particularly significant for migratory species, which depend on them for foraging and rest.
If we lose the saltpans, we run the risk of losing crucial habitats for birds, as well as the other benefits they offer local populations – and we can’t allow this to happen. That’s why a partnership of NGOs and other bodies led by Birdlife International has launched the Saltpan Initiative, a multi-year programme to restore saltpans and their surrounding wetlands right across the Mediterranean.
The Saltpan Initiative is active at numerous sites, including Oristano (Sardinia), Ghar el Melh (Tunisia), Ulcinj Salina (Montenegro), Bahia de Cadiz (Spain) and Gediz Delta (Turkey), as well as Herdade da Mourisca and Samouco and Brito Saltpans in the Tagus Estuary (Portugal).
Pressures
Abandoning saltpans
Agricultural pollution
Unsustainable water extraction
Coastal development
Cheaper rock salt undermining the economic model behind sea salt production
The project achieved the following results:
Support best practice sharing and restoration measures
Coordinate efforts with other saltpan restoration projects
Support the development of priority wetlands, and especially saltpans, as functional natural habitats which support healthy populations of migratory and non-migratory birds, involving local stakeholders
Identify potential sustainable income streams that can contribute to the sustainable management of the target sites
Create or enhance the capacity of local communities living in the selected sites to understand and assess ecosystem services, and support them in communicating the results to all relevant stakeholders
Carry out ecosystem service assessments at Oristano, Ghar el Melh and Ulcinj
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The Saltpan Initiative publications
Restoration Factsheet
Download
The saltpans are telling their stories
Saving the Salina
Do you know what connects an artisanal table condiment, 250 species of birds, and a Balkan state’s application to join the European Union?
Not many people would respond ‘an artificial wetland’, but that’s the surprising answer. Specifically, we’re talking about the salt pans at Ulcinj, Montenegro – and we’ll explain the connection in a moment.
Ulcinj Salina, important bird habitat in Montenegro, was registered as state property
The salt pans in the south of Montenegro have been entered into the cadastre of the city of Ulcinj as state-owned land. This finally settles the question of ownership, which has been a long lasting dispute with the salina‘s insolvency administration.
Breaking News: Amazing victory for Montenegro’s bird paradise!
Read the article also in FR | AR
At long last, the salt pans of Ulcinj Salina have been declared a national protected area! For the past 15 years, the Center for Protection and Research of Birds of Montenegro (CZIP), partner of BirdLife, has fought tirelessly to block a controversial building development poised to destroy one of Europe’s most important migratory bird resting and breeding sites.