Environment

to the rhythm of the tides

Marshes, salt pans

Aponiente is located in the heart of the Bahía de Cádiz Natural Park, in the south of Spain.

The marshland in which it is located is inhabited by marine and maritime-terrestrial species of enormous biological richness, which have unique characteristics due to their physiological adaptation as they are subject to constant changes, determined by the local climate and the rhythm of the tides.

Currently, more than 5,373 hectares of ancient salt pans that were worked by hand by our ancestors since Phoenician times are abandoned in the Bay of Cadiz. The traditional management system of the artisanal salt works is at risk of disappearing, and those that persist do so by combining other activities and businesses, and do so not for economic gain, but to preserve culture and tradition.

In the lower Guadalquivir, 70% of the agricultural land is fallow this year due to the lack of fresh water, and therefore its owners are in a complicated situation.

Only a few highly professionalised marine farms maintain their activity, generating very high quality estuarine fish, as well as the marine salt marshes in Doñana.

An artisanal salt marsh, a multi-trophic estuary and a salt marsh, as the multidimensional spaces that they are, constitute scenarios in which different initiatives and activities can come together. The generous aptitude of the salt marshes offers socio-economic possibilities, in the 21st century, that go far beyond the production of salt or estuarine fish. Marine salt marshes and estuaries are, therefore, coastal pastures in which, in order to guarantee their survival in such a globalised world and in which there is great commercial competitiveness, they need to broaden their vision and adapt to current criteria and needs, including gastronomy, ecotourism and involving all the productive sectors.

The joint alliance between Aponiente, Salarte, Birdlife International and Mava Foundation seeks to create an integrated and dynamic ecology in degraded environments through the recovery and management of artisanal salt pans, multi-trophic aquaculture and traditional navazo crops. The aim is to encourage young entrepreneurs, enterprising professionals and qualified local people to establish their activity in the Bay of Cadiz to promote the creation of new jobs based on innovation and the use of natural heritage.

Bringing light and brightness back to the sea and the marshes is part of Aponiente's DNA.

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