Montenegro Acts on Abandoned Salt Flats Vital to Migratory Birds

Conservationists and the European Union say any plan must safeguard Ulcinj Salina's importance to migratory birds, but an unresolved ownership dispute is frustrating efforts to set those protections in stone.

"For migratory birds, these salt flats are as important as London's Heathrow and New York's JFK are for air traffic," said 52 year-old Canka. "Salina is still a treasure for the town of Ulcinj, even if nobody is collecting its precious 'white gold' anymore."

Demands for salt works to be restarted

Flock of famingos resting in salt pans of old Ulcinj Salina Montenegro. Photo: CZIP

Huge quantities of salt were produced at Ulcinj Salina for almost a century, transforming the landscape around the small coastal town while managing to respect nature.

Ulcinj Salina is a designated IBA, or Important Bird Area. With 252 bird species registered in the wetlands every year, it is the most important wintering, nesting and feeding site for birds on the eastern coast of the Adriatic and the key stopover site for birds migrating on the Adriatic Flyway, among them Dalmatian pelicans and flamingos.

"Thousands of birds rest here in the spring and autumn and refuel for the rest of their energy-sapping flight," said Canka. "Like this German couple, people from all over Europe come here for bird-watching."

The whole area once belonged to the state-owned salt company Bajo Sekulic, which was privatised in 2002 and sold to investment fund Eurofond.

But due to debts and a lack of investment, Ulcinj Salina filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and the salt works halted the process of pumping out fresh water and pumping in saltwater, which is vital to preserving the site as a natural habitat.

Repeated attempts by...

Continue reading on: