Punta Entinas: wetland haven teeming with wildlife

PUNTA ENTINAS-SABINAR is to become a Special Area of Conservation (ZEC in Spanish).
The regional government’s Environment department is completing the formalities giving European Union protection to the 15-kilometre coastal strip that is also a wildlife haven. The process has been a long one, as the Junta initiated the necessary procedures in 2010.
Already classed as a reserve, Punta Entinas covers a 1,944-hectare area of sand dunes, freshwater pools, salt lakes and beach and is included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.
Intriguingly situated in an area that is otherwise much-altered by man, it attracts botanists, zoologists, geologists and inevitably is ideal for bird-watching.
Owing to its nearness to the Albufera nature reserve in Adra and the Cabo de Gata-Nijar national park, Punta Entinas-Sabina is another a stopping-off point for migratory birds. At last count 130 different bird species were either living there or passing through, not to mention several types of resident reptiles, mammals, amphibians and fish.