El Fondo Nature Reserve is a wetland enclave,2.387 hectares in size, has great ecological inter-est, but its great economic value should not beunderestimated either. With the water from thesereservoirs, coming from the river Segura, about40.000 hectares in the zone between San Juanand Orihuela are irrigated.

The two reservoirs of greatest size and capacityare the Levante and Poniente reservoirs, whichrespectively take up 450 and 650 hectares. Thecapacity of the Levante reservoir is five millioncubic metres and that of the Poniente reservoir iseleven million cubic metres.

Man forms an essential part of this ecosystem,consisting of a number of damp enclaves createdin order to manage the water for irrigation, huntingand fishing.

Fauna

The bird life is the parks greatest biological asset.Nevertheless there are also some very interestingfish species, such as the eel, the mullet and aboveall the fartet (Aphanius iberus), a cyprinodontidendemic to the Spanish Mediterranean. The red-tailed (or spiny-footed) lizard (Acanthodactylus ery-thurus) is the most plentiful sort of reptile found,while the freshwater shrimp (Paleomonetes zari-quieyi), an endemic crustacean, is also numerous.

The abundance and diversity of birds in the parkhas meant that this has been classified as awetland of international importance and is morespecifically included in the RAMSAR agreementfor protection of wetlands, and in the EuropeanUnion Birds directive (Zone of Special Protectionfor Birds).

Some of the most important of the many speciespresent in the park are the marbled teal (Marmaro-netta angustirrostris) and the white-headed duck(Oxyura leucocephala). The first of these has itsmain breeding colony in the whole peninsula in ElFondo, not being found anywhere else on the con-tinent. The white-headed duck also has one of themain population centres worldwide in this reserve.

Other important varieties of birds at nesting timeare the colonies of herons, amongst which thereare very rare species such as the purple heron(Ardea purpurea), the black-crowned night-heron(Nycticorax nycticorax) and especially the squaccoheron (Ardeola ralloides).

Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)

In the winter season there are the greatest con-centrations of birds, particular importance beingattributed to species such as the northern shoveler(Anas clypeata), the coot (Fulica atra) there beingas many as 30.000 specimens.

Other species which can be seen in the park arethe marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus), the(osprey) and the bearded tit (Panurus biarmicus),penduline tit (Remiz pendulimus) or moustachedwarbler (Acrocephalus melanopogon), all of themthreatened by the disappearance and degradationof the swamp ecosystems.

Collared pranticole (Glareola pratincola)Red-crested pochard (Netta rufina)

Some of the nesting Anatidae of greatest importanceare the red-crested pochard (Netta rufina) and thecommon pochard (Aythia ferina). The common shel-duck (Tadorna tadorna) a difficult species to find, alsonests there.

In shallower waters it is possible to see colonies ofLimicolae birds, such as the avocet (Recuvirostra avo-setta), the stork (Himantopus himantopus) and thecollared pranticole (Glareola pratincola), which has inthis reserve, along with the Prat de Cabanes, the onlytwo breeding areas in the Valencian Community.

Vegetation

The land forming El Fondo is fairly uniform. Never-theless, there are different environments in thepark depending on how much the different zonesare flooded and on the quality of their water.

The reservoirs have relatively fresh water and ahigh degree of eutrophy. These characteristics arewhat mean that the submerged vegetation is ratherscanty. The dominant formation is the reeds, whichsurrounds and colonises shallow water, alternatingwith clumps of rushes in some zones.

The peripheral pools consist of smooth water witha high degree of salinity and in general of betterquality. In them the salt marsh formations, whichinclude amongst other genuses Limonium, Haloc-nemun, Suadea or Salicornia, constitute typicalvegetation in the zone, of great interest throughthe endemic nature of the peninsula's southwes-tern region.

Lastly, in some of the drained land on the edges, itis still possible to see different crops. Palm treesand the line of eucalyptus bordering the maincanal and crossing the park form a characteristicimage of the zone.

Reeds

The need to have fresh water with which to washthe salts from the land and irrigate the new crops,created after the gradual process of drying out thelagoon, gave rise to the construction of reservoirs,for which the bed of El Fondo lagoon was used.

The hillocks created with the earth dug out formaking the reservoirs propitiated the creation of aninteresting swamp biotope which can still be found.

The owners of some pieces of land located aroundthe reservoirs have been used for cynegetic andfish farming purposes, as a result of the low far-ming value of the land. A number of interestingwetland enclaves associated with the reservoirshave thus been formed.

Fishig boat on the Levante reservoir

History

El Fondo Nature Reserve, the farmland around itand nearby towns of San Felipe de Neri, Dolores,Catral and San Isidro de Albatera, are all on landwhich used to form part of the huge Elche lagoonwhich existed until the 18th century. The denomi-nation of swamp land and salt marshes given tothe sections in the zone act as a reminder of itspast.

What was once the Elche lagoon disappeared asa result of the natural silting up of the land, butalso due to the many drainage operations carriedout there. One of these were the so called bonu-ses undertaken by Cardinal Belluga in the 18thcentury.

Dam regulation trough sluices

the south-east of the peninsula. Along the pathand by the edges of the reservoirs, the dominantformation is the reed, which surrounds andinvades the shallower waters, alternating in somezones with formations of rushes.

Going along by this route and around the westernreservoir you will reach the first two observatories -"el Tollo" and straight after, "el Calamón", fromwhich you can easily make the acquaintance ofthe greatest biological wealth of the park, its birdlife.There are many species which can be observedfrom these two observatories, both whenswimming, feeding or in flight, such as for examplethe purple heron (Ardea purpurea), the black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) or thesquacco heron (Ardeola ralloides).

“El Tollo” observatory

ROUTE 1 (red):Ornithological Route

Going along the main canal of the reserve, theornithological route starts at the second elevationof Levante Irrigation Community.

Along this route you can make different stops thatgive visitors an unrivalled chance to make contactwith the flora and fauna of the environment, whichalong with the variety of landscapes, make elFondo Nature Reserve a must for any bird lover.

The path starts through a salt marsh zone where,amongst other genuses, you can observe close upLimonium, Halocnemum, Suaeda or Salicornia,which constitute the typical vegetation in this zone,being of great interest for their endemic nature in

It is hard to point out any particular one of themany species of ducks which can also be seenfrom this point. We could nevertheless mentiontwo as the real stars of the park: the marbled teal(Marmaronetta angustirrostris), which uses ElFondo as its main breeding place in the wholepeninsula, and the white-headed duck (Oxyuraleucocephala) present all year round and for whichthis reserve is one of the main population centresall over the world. Other nesting Anatidae presentthe whole year in the two reservoirs are thepochard (Aythya ferina) or the red-crested pochard(Netta ruffina).

A little farther on you will come to the Marbled Tealvantage point, from which you can see almost thewhole area of the two reservoirs (Poniente andLevante), as well as the perimeter pools of saltywaters.

Marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris)

Reservoir and line of eucalyptus (Eucaliptus sp.)

Other species of interest which surprise the visitorthroughout the trip with their flight are the marshharrier (Circus aeruginosus), the osprey (Pandionhaliaetus), apart from the bearded tit (Panurusbiarmicus) or the moustached warbler(Acrocephalus melanopogon), all of theseendangered through the disappearance or degra-dation of the swamp ecosystems.

This route is about 5 km long (there and back) andtakes roughly two and a half hours

Access to “el Peu Verd”observatory

This vantage point is a strategic spot from which toobserve the large concentrations of birds in thewintering season, sometimes over 30.000 spe-cimens, with such species as the northernshoveler (Anas clypeata) or the coot (Fulica atra)being worthy of mention.

The end of this trip is at "el Peu Verd" observatory,which is accessed by a wooden gangway and fromwhich it is easy to see some species that havebeen successfully re-introduced in this wetland,such as the purple swamphen (Porphyrioporphyrio) or the crested coot (Fulica cristata),apart from the increasingly numerous black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis).

White headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala)

ROUTE 2 (yellow) Information Centre

Opened on 11th July 2001, El Fondo NatureReserve has a circular itinerary which starts fromthis centre and goes around a nearby pool.

At the start of the route you can see both the saltmarshes with their characteristic plants and thefarmland in the surrounding areas. A gangwayover the salt marshes allows you to observespecies which colonise shallow water settings,the Limicolae birds. Some of the main ones arethe avocet (Recurvirostra avoseta), with its cha-racteristic upwardly curved beak, or the black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus). Bothspecies are present all year round, it beingpossible to see them watchful over their chicks atnesting time, as well as the snowy plover

Black-winged sitlts pairing (Himantopus himantopus)

One of the species that are more difficult to find isthe shelduck (Tadorna tadorna), which tends toconcentrate in the small islands built in the centreof the lagoons and which act as resting places formany species.

To end up the route you come to a zone whereyou can rest from your short trip and just enjoytaking in the sounds of this outstanding naturalrefuge.

General View of the Information Centre

(Charadrius alexandrinus). These species, alongwith others such as the sandpiper, stint orredshank families, and even lapwings (Vanellusvanellus) form part of the reserve's biologicaldiversity. The collared pratincole (Glareola pra-tincola) is another of the species which can easilybe observed in this setting, and this reserve andthe Prat de Cabanes are the only two breedingpoints in the Valencian Community.

We could also stress the presence of such anemblematic and eyecatching species as theflamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber). This is its naturalhabitat, where it has found an ideal environmentfor peace and quiet all year round, giving rise tounforgettable images of great flocks in flightarriving or setting off towards other nearby dampzones.

El Fondo Information Centre

Visits of interest

Elche's Palm grove, from which you can visit theMunicipal Park every day and the Huerto del Curagardens, open from 9 to 20 hours.

Puçol Ethnographic Museum and Schoolchildren'sFarming Museum, in Partida de Puçol, 8 (tel. 966 630 478)

La Alcudia Monography Museum, at Carretera deDolores, Km 2.2 (tel. 965 459 667)

Other centres of interest found nearby are: Elche Contemporary Art Museum, MarianoBenlliure Museum in Crevillente, La Mata andTorrevieja Lagoons Nature Reserve, Santa PolaSalt Works Nature Reserve, dunes and mouth ofthe River Segura, Altamira Palace, L'AlcudiaIberian settlement site.

Accommodation

El Fondo is only a few kilometres from the coastand some of the most important tourist resorts onthe Costa Blanca, such as Santa Pola, La Marinaor Guardamar, and inland ones such as Elche,Crevillente, Orihuela, Dolores, Catral... There is agood range of hotel options available in all thesetowns.

Cuisine

Arroz con costra rice is the most highly appre-ciated Elche cooking speciality. Hake and differentvarieties of salads are also typical in the zone, aswell as dates, the local dessert par excellence.

Elche's Palm grove

Accesses

El Fondo Nature Reserve can be accessed fromthe road that links Elche with the locality of Matola.At the height of kilometre 8 there is a turnoff toSan Felipe Neri which leads to the entrance to thepark.

You can also get there by the Alicante-Murcia dualcarriageway, by taking exit 76 (Crevillente-railwaystation). Going on towards the station, after about5 kilometres take the turnoff to San Felipe Neriwhich leads to the entrance.

El Fondo from the Picacho. Crevillent mountain range