Sustainable Tourism Initiatives In European Saltscapes

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment 2004-01, Vol.76
Main Author: Kortekaas, K H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abandonment
Basins
Ecosystems
Environmental changes
Evaporation
Flats (landforms)
Flora
Salts
Sustainable tourism
Tourism
Transportation
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Summary: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
ISSN:1746-448X
1743-3541
DOI:10.2495/ST040181