Salt for preserving food
The pans were strategic infrastructure before refrigeration.
Frank Vincentz — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Frank Vincentz — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Frank Vincentz — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Frank Vincentz — CC BY-SA 3.0
A nature reserve on Salina Bay in northern Malta, combining historic salt pans with wetland, and among the island's most important sites for migrating birds. The salt pans are the origin of the place. The Knights of St John laid out extensive salt fields here in the sixteenth century to secure the island's supply, salt being essential for preserving food and for trade. The shallow basins you see today are that same structure: seawater let into graded pans and left to evaporate in the sun. When production declined the pans became shallow saline wetland, an environment rare in Malta and highly valuable to birds. Malta sits on one of the major migration corridors between Europe and Africa, and a site like this offers water and food on a dry island. That makes hunting a sensitive matter here: shooting migrating birds is a deep-rooted Maltese tradition and a long-running dispute with the European Union, and reserves like this are the spaces where it is prohibited. Practical points: access is free and the paths are open. The best time for birds is the spring and autumn migrations rather than summer. There is almost no shade.
The pans were strategic infrastructure before refrigeration.
Malta lies on a route between Europe and Africa; this is a water and food stop.
Hunting migrants is a long Maltese-EU dispute, and reserves are the exception.
Salina Bay, northern Malta
Hunting and trapping migrating birds is an old tradition on the island, and the ratio of hunters to population is among Europe's highest. After Malta joined the European Union in 2004 the practice came into conflict with the EU Birds Directive protecting migratory species, followed by cases before the European Court of Justice and a national referendum in 2015 that kept spring hunting by a narrow margin. The matter remains internally divisive.
It depends entirely on the season. During migration, waders, herons and waterbirds pass through and stop to rest, and early morning can bring good numbers. In summer the place is quiet, dry and thin on birds. Take binoculars, and do not expect a zoo — this is wild watching that depends on luck and timing.
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