ARCHIVED - Naturalists purchase part of the salt flats of Marchamalo

The aim is to re-activate salt production and preserve the habitat of birds and the Spanish toothcarp

In recent months it has been hard to find any positive news regarding the natural environment in and around the Mar Menor, with the condition of the lagoon having deteriorated drastically after the disastrous gota fría storm of mid-September acted as a catalyst on all of the harmful substances accumulated in the water, but a small ray of light was shed on the area on Tuesday when the naturalists’ association ANSE announced that it had purchased a plot of land in the old salt flats of Marchamalo.

These salt flats are located at the southern end of the Mar Menor, between Cabo de Palos and Playa Honda, and occupy an area of almost two million square metres, while the area including the Playa Amoladeras and the dunes behind it (alongside the shore of the Mediterranean) accounts for another 116,000m2. Both of them have been declared wildlife protection areas due to the presence of various wildlife species including flamingos, Andouin’s gulls, egret herons, black-winged stilts, avocets and plovers, while the plant species native to the dunes of Las Amoladeras are also an important element of the local biosystem, including Pancratium maritimum (sea daffodils) and Eryngium maritimum (sea holly).

For years efforts have been made to persuade the regional government to protect and preserve the salt flats, but ANSE report that given the inaction of public administration bodies they have taken the matter into their own hands by acquiring part of the area for the sum of 70,000 euros. Their intention now is to make some of the old salt pans operational again in sustainable ways, thus providing a habitat for wading birds and the Spanish toothcarp, a small fish which is at risk of extinction.

The plot acquired is by no means large at only 8 hectares plus a plot of 7,000 square metres on which a ruined building stands, but ANSE expect to be able to finance their project using their own funds and donations through an online fund-raising campaign, as they have done with a bat preservation campaign in the Cueva de Las Yeseras in Santomera. However, they will probably need the collaboration of the regional and national governments in re-activating salt production, due to the owner of the other abandoned salt pans in the area, Salinas de La Manga SL, considering that to do so will be unprofitable.

The salt flats of Marchamalo and San Pedro del Pinatar are the only ones in the Region which still permanently contain water, making them important habitats for seabirds and other species. Some of the other old flats are abandoned, as is the case on the south-western shore of the Mar Menor in Lo Poyo, while others are either being developed or on the point of being developed: this is the case both in Los Narejos and in Mazarrón, according to ANSE.

Images: Pedro García / ANSE

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