Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
On the Slovenia-Croatia border, this is one of the largest areas of salinas on the Adriatic Sea. The major part lies in Slovenia. Desert-like areas are frequently flooded by seawater or brackish water. Salt-tolerant invertebrates are common, and up to 16 species of salt-tolerant plants are present. Most of the salinas (Fontanigge) were abandoned after the Second World War, but a smaller part (Lera), covering some 5-10% of the site, is still active in producing salt.
Important numbers of migratory and post-breeding
Larus melanocephalus and
Larus cachinnans congregate at the saltpans, and the adjacent sea is a migration route for significantly large numbers of
Puffinus yelkouan. Species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria:
Phalacrocorax pygmeus (3-23 birds at the pans in winter; numbers have been increasing),
Acrocephalus paludicola (rare on passage, max. 1). The salinas are also notable nationally for their concentrations of waders on passage, for some breeding waterbirds and for wintering wildfowl, gulls and herons.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The only important problems are the disturbance to birds caused by visitors and the increasing pressures for infrastructure development (for aquaculture, tourism, sport). The area is the only Ramsar Site in Slovenia (designated in 1993). Waterbird hunting has been prohibited. The site is well researched and frequently visited by ornithologists, but permanent monitoring of birds has not yet been established.
National High
International Partial835 ha of IBA covered by Landscape Park (Seèovljske soline, 850 ha). 650 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Seèovljske soline [Seèovlje saltpans], 650 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sečovlje saltpans (Slovenia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sečovlje-saltpans-iba-slovenia on 23/11/2024.
