The Knights build the salt pans
The present salt-pan system was developed by the Knights of St John in the second half of the sixteenth century, turning the sheltered coast into a major salt-producing landscape.
Parks & Reserves
Salina
Salina
Nature Reserve
Where salt became habitat
Salina is where Malta’s salt-making heritage and wetland wildlife occupy the same shallow-water landscape.
At the mouth of the Burmarrad valley, historic salt pans, saline marshland and garrigue form a carefully controlled landscape once shaped for sea-salt production.
Today BirdLife Malta manages the reserve, where the same brine, mud and shallow water attract migratory birds and specialised wildlife while traditional salt production continues. The ecology and the industry make most sense when read together.
Reserve profile
- Protection
- Natura 2000 & SAC
- Managed by
- BirdLife Malta
- Access
- Free · open daily
- Best for
- Birdlife, salt heritage & photography
Five centuries shaped by salt
How Salina became a working wetland
Its ecological value is recent in management terms, but the geometry of the site was created by centuries of salt production, defence and water control.
Defence meets industry
The Ximenes Redoubt began as a coastal fortification under Grand Master Perellos and was later adapted and enlarged with salt-storage facilities.
Salt production fades
After centuries of use, large-scale production stopped and the pans fell into disrepair, leaving an important industrial and ecological landscape neglected.
Management and salt return
BirdLife Malta took over management in 2016, and restoration work eventually allowed traditional salt production to restart in 2021.
A wider reserve takes shape
A restored wetland and photography hide opened after rehabilitation works, followed by Malta's first dedicated Salt Museum in 2024.
A landscape named for salt
Salina reflects a place shaped around brine, evaporation and harvesting - a name that now also belongs to one of Malta's most distinctive saline wetlands.
The name
Salina is inseparable from salt. The name reflects a landscape designed around brine, evaporation and harvesting, but those same shallow saline waters now also sustain a remarkable wetland ecosystem.
The salt pans
Reading Salina as a water system
Salina is a sequence of basins, channels and wetlands rather than a single pool. The same engineering that concentrates seawater for salt also creates varied depths and salinities for wildlife.
The bigger picture
From seawater to salt crystal
Seawater is progressively settled, concentrated and moved through the pan system until brine reaches the shallow crystallising pans. Summer heat then does the final work, leaving salt behind for harvesting.
For wildlife, muddy margins and shallow saline water create feeding and resting habitat for gulls, waders, terns, herons and egrets. The system also supports specialised species such as the Maltese Killifish and salt-tolerant plants.
Salina map · The Roving Doctor. Tap to open full-screen.
Cleaning the seawater
Early basins allow sand and suspended material to settle before cleaner seawater moves deeper into the production system.
Concentrating the salt
Evaporation progressively increases salinity until salt crystals form in the shallow pans during the hottest part of the year.
Shallow water becomes refuge
Managed water levels also provide feeding, roosting and resting habitat for resident and migratory birds.
Wildlife to keep an eye out for
Winter often brings large gull numbers, while spring and autumn migration can add waders, herons and egrets. Summer shifts attention towards salt harvesting, concentrated brine and salt-tolerant flora.
Visit planner
A simple route through Salina
Allow about an hour, or longer if you want to birdwatch properly or spend time in the Salt Museum. Seasonal activity changes what is most rewarding to look for.
Choose a stage
Start with the human story
Understanding the salt industry makes the geometry outside immediately more meaningful.
- Visit the Salt Museum and look at the tools and interpretation of traditional production.
- Ask staff about current bird sightings and which parts of the reserve are most active.
- Check whether any guided activities or hide slots are available during your visit.
The Salt Museum is free. Current published hours are 08:00-18:00 up to 15 September and 08:00-17:00 from 16 September onwards.
Read the pans as an engineered system
Follow the progression from larger basins towards shallower, more concentrated water.
- Notice the straight dividing walls and controlled channels between basins.
- Look for changes in water colour and exposed salt, especially in summer.
- Scan the dyke edges for gulls, waders and terns resting between feeds.
Salt harvesting usually comes at the end of the long summer evaporation cycle. Do not enter working pans unless explicitly permitted.
Slow down for the wildlife
The restored wetland on the Kennedy Grove side adds a different habitat to the historic pans.
- Use the hide or screened areas quietly to minimise disturbance.
- Scan muddy margins for small waders before looking only at the open water.
- Check posts, reeds and shallow pools for kingfishers, egrets and herons.
Binoculars make a substantial difference here. The most interesting bird may be a small wader at the far edge of a pan rather than the most obvious flock.
Finish with the wider landscape
The fortification, salt stores and open pans show how defence, industry and ecology overlap.
- Look towards the Ximenes Redoubt and relate it to the coastal approach it once guarded.
- Take a final scan across the pans for gulls, terns and larger waterbirds.
- If light is good, stay for the reflections across the shallow basins.
Gallery
Inside Salina
From the reserve trails and wetland vegetation to the historic salt pans, museum and birdlife.
Personal notes
My Experience
Salina is easy to overlook, but inside the reserve the shallow pools, salt pans and birdlife feel unexpectedly peaceful. I especially like it in the softer late-afternoon light, when the water reflects the sky and the whole landscape seems to slow down.
Further reading & official information
BirdLife Malta's reserve page is the best source for current access, opening hours, wildlife and facilities. Its salt-production material explains how the historic pans work and how harvesting was restored.