Sustainable Tourism Initiatives In European Saltscapes

• Published in: WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment Vol. 76
• Main Author: Kortekaas, K H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Southampton W I T Press 01.01.2004
• Subjects: Abandonment; Basins; Ecosystems; Environmental changes; Evaporation; Flats (landforms); Flora; Salts; Sustainable tourism; Tourism; Transportation; Mediterranean Area
• ISSN: 1746-448X; 1743-3541
• DOI: 10.2495/ST040181

When we speak about salt landscapes, or saltscapes, eroded, polluted, lifeless flats come to our minds. Saltscapes, however, are rich in halophyllic fauna and flora. These life forms are well adapted to salty environments but are very sensitive to changes in their ecosystem. Many halophyllic species are included in the Habitats Directive and a number of their sites are within the Natura 2000 network. Saltscapes are also rich from the cultural and ethnological points of view. The industrialisation of the salt business, in combination with low transportation costs, however, have led to the abandonment of the smaller, traditional salt making sites everywhere. Many examples of agonizing or already abandoned solar evaporation salt making sites (salinas) can be found in the Mediterranean basin and in inland Iberia. Fortunately, a number of managers of these sites have changed the orientation of t