The ecological importance of the Margherita di Savoia Saltworks

Abstract

The Margherita di Savoia Saltworks, located in Apulia (South Italy), are the largest productive
 saltworks in Italy. They are connected with the Apulian wetlands, an important network thanks
 of its central geographic position, between the east and west of the Mediterranean basin.
 Several species and habitats of European and international interest (Natura 2000 network,
 Ramsar list) are present in them.
 It plays a significant role as an area of stopover, wintering and breeding along the migratory
 routes of birds that cross the Mediterranean. The most interesting migratory and wintering
 species is the Numenius tenuirostris (slender-billed curlew), which is the bird most at risk of
 extinction in Europe.
 Moreover in the early 1990s The Phoenicopterus ruber (greater flamingo) has colonised the
 reserve in great number, around 6,000 today, making it the largest concentration of the
 species in mainland Italy.
 The Margherita di Savoia saltworks are entirely a man-made area, the characteristics of
 which (water levels, salinity) are preserved entirely due to sea salt production, which
 guarantees all the chemical and physical factors necessary for the survival of these habitats.
 It is also worth noting the type of production adopted in the saltworks, which makes it possible
 to recover the processing brine, thus eliminating one of the critical factors in the symbiotic
 relationship between salt production and environmental protection.