The El Fondo Natural Park (, ) is located within the municipal boundaries of

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

and Crevillent both of which are within the ''comarca'' (district) of

Baix Vinalopó The Baix Vinalopó (, ; ; lit. "Lower Vinalopó") is a ''comarca'' in the province of Alicante (Valencian Community, Spain). It is bordered by the ''comarques'' of Vinalopó Mitjà and Alacantí on the north and Vega Baja del Segura on the south. ...

in the south of the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

in the east of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Both the rivers

Vinalopó The Vinalopó is a small river flowing through the Province of Alicante, Alicante province, of Spain. It flows from north to south and, with a length of 81 km., it is the longest of the rivers which flows for its entire length within the l ...

and Segura discharge into the lagoons that form this park. The park is included in the

Ramsar convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

list of protected wetlands and as a

Special Protection Area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

under the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It has an area of 2,495

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s and was declared a Natural Park by the Valencian government (

Generalitat Valenciana The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organized. It consists of seven institutions including the ''Corts Valen ...

) on 12 December 1988.

Topography and climate

This natural park is formed by a number of lagoons, of which the two largest are manmade and are called Levante, which has a surface area of 450 hectares and Poniente, with an area of 650 hectares. These two lagoons are fed by the waters of the river Segura. El Fondo and the Salinas of

Santa Pola Santa Pola (; ) is a coastal town located in the comarca of Baix Vinalopó in the Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of and has a population of 36,174 inhabitants of whom 6,000 are residents of the nearby to ...

as well as the surrounding area formed part of the Albufera of Elche known to the Romans as "''Senus Illicitanus''". The area of the park was infilled in the 17th century due to natural sedimentation and the placing of silt in order to create new areas for cultivation. At the same time the two largest lagoons were damned to supply water for irrigation. The natural park has a semi-arid

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

due to its location in the south east of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

Flora

Although the parks habitats are fairly homogeneous it is possible to distinguish two different types of environment relating to the depth and

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

of the water. The reservoirs contain fresher, less saline water with a high degree of

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

and therefore there is hardly any submerged vegetation although rushes and reeds are present in the deepest waters. The peripheral pools, are more saline and contain better quality water than the reservoirs and various species typical of

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

are present, such as sea lavender, shrubby seablight and glasswort.

Fauna

Various aquatic species exist in the lagoons such as

eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...

grey mullet Grey mullet can mean any of several fish in the family ''Mugilidae'' (the mullets) and having a greyish hue: * Golden grey mullet, '' Chelon auratus'' * Thicklip grey mullet, '' Chelon labrosus'' * Thinlip grey mullet, '' Chelon ramada'' * Leaping ...

, fresh water shrimp and above all the Spanish toothcarp which is endemic to the Spanish Mediterranean region. But without any doubt the parks best known feature is the bird life. The most notable of the many species present in the park are the

marbled duck The marbled duck or marbled teal (''Marmaronetta angustirostris'') is a medium-sized species of duck from southern Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia. The scientific name, ''Marmaronetta angustirostris'', comes from the Greek ' ...

and the

white-headed duck The white-headed duck (''Oxyura leucocephala'') is a small diving duck some long. The male has a white head with black crown, a blue bill, and reddish-grey plumage. The female has a dark bill and rather duller colouring. Its breeding habitat is ...

with the park containing two of the largest worldwide populations. A large number of herons are present during the breeding season particularly the

purple heron The purple heron (''Ardea purpurea'') is a wide-ranging heron species. It breeds in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Palearctic. The Western Palearctic populations migrate between breeding and wintering habitats whe ...

, the night heron and the

squacco heron The squacco heron (''Ardeola ralloides'') is a small heron, long, of which the body is , with wingspan. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East. Behaviour The squacco heron is a migrant, wintering ...

. It is also possible to find other species such as the

avocet The four species of avocets are a genus, ''Recurvirostra'', of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin , 'curved backwards' and , 'bill'. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian ( Ferrarese) ...

, the

black-winged stilt The black-winged stilt (''Himantopus himantopus'') is a widely distributed, very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family Recurvirostridae. Its scientific name, ''Himantopus himantopus'', is sometimes used to generalize a single, almost ...

, the

collared pratincole The collared pratincole (''Glareola pratincola''), also known as the common pratincole or red-winged pratincole, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae. As with other pratincoles, it is native to the Old World. Taxonomy The collared p ...

, the crested coot, the

European penduline tit The Eurasian penduline tit or European penduline tit (''Remiz pendulinus'') is a passerine bird of the genus ''Remiz''. It is relatively widespread throughout the western Palearctic. It is migratory in the northern part of its range but resident ...

and the

moustached warbler The moustached warbler (''Acrocephalus melanopogon'') is an Old World warbler in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It breeds in southern Europe and southern temperate Asia with a few breeding in north-west Africa. It is partially migratory. South-wes ...

. Birds of prey include

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

marsh harrier The marsh harriers are bird of prey, birds of prey of the harrier (bird), harrier subfamily. They are medium-sized Bird of prey, raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. ...

and (in winter)

greater spotted eagle The greater spotted eagle (''Clanga clanga''), also called the spotted eagle, is a large migratory bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, commonly known as "booted eagles".Helbig, A. J., Kocum, A., ...

. An

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

-born greater spotted eagle wearing a transmitter has been hibernating in the park and its surroundings each winter since 2008/2009.Interactive map with migration routes of satellite tracked greater and lesser spotted eagles, ospreys, cranes, and black storks: http://birdmap.5dvision.ee/index.php?lang=en

Accessible

The park is served by the

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

motorway, with an exit at the Crevillent Station leading to the village of San Felipe Neri.

References

External links

Page at the Valencian Community Natural Parks
{{Authority control Wetlands of Spain Ramsar sites in Spain Landforms of the Valencian Community