Solar salterns – salt-making areas and natural habitats

Geographical Bulletin has published a scientfic paper entitled »Solar salterns – salt-making areas and natural habitats«.

The author is Primož Pipan member of the program group Heritage on the margins: new perspectives on heritage and identity within and beyond national.

Link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.3986/GV97202

Keywords: geography, cultural heritage, heritagization, traditional salt-making, fleur de sel, petola microbial mat, Piran salterns, Slovenia, //, geografija, kulturna dediščina, dediščinjenje, tradicionalno solinarstvo, solni cvet, petola, Piranske soline, Slovenija

Abstract

In recent decades, solar salterns in Europe have become protected natural areas. Long-term human activity has created a typical saltern ecosystem, providing habitats for numerous plant and animal species. We describe traditional salt-making using the example of the Sečovlje salterns in Slovenia, focusing on salt crystallisation areas during the 2024 salt season. The role of the petola microbial mat as both salt-making heritage and a natural feature is illustrated by examples from Croatia (Pag, Nin, Ston), Italy (Cervia), and France (Aigues-Mortes, Guérande). We examined the heritagisation of solar salt-making using the examples of the salterns in Aigues-Mortes (France) and Sečovlje (Slovenia). Saltworkers and salt production as an economic activity play a key role in preserving the saltscape.