A nature lover’s paradise! Here’s a rare aerial view of Malta’s Ghadira Nature Reserve
There’s a good chance you’ve driven past this place while driving towards the Gozo ferry at Cirkewwa, but you might not have seen it from this angle before! The Department of Information has shared a beautiful photo showing an aerial view of the Ghadira Nature Reserve, located on the outskirts of Mellieha, just past Ghadira Bay.
The reserve houses seven hectares (that’s a whopping 70,000 square metres!) of quite a rare habitat in Malta – brackish lake and saltmarsh, which is a coastal ecosystem found in a zone between land and open saltwater. Due to the dry climate of the islands, this kind of inland water habitats are rare, making this one particularly important.
For centuries, the site served as a saltpan for the residents of neighbouring Mellieha. Its use declined in the 1500s with the construction of new saltpans at Salina, sadly leading to its abandonment. Over time, the area became filled with sediment from the sea, and the construction of the road leading to Cirkewwa cut it off from the beach, resulting in seasonal pools that attracted waterfowl.
In the 1960s, plans for a new inland road nearly destroyed the site, but BirdLife’s protests successfully halted the project. Despite this, the dry lakebed continued to be used as a summer car park for beachgoers. In 1978, Ghadira was officially declared a bird sanctuary, and in 1980, the government adopted BirdLife’s restoration plans to revive the lake and saltmarsh habitat, transforming it into a fully protected and managed nature reserve.
Around 140 species of migrating birds are seen annually at the reserve, most of which stop to rest and refuel before continuing their long migration journeys. Birds that can be spotted include wading birds (given the name for obvious reasons!), such as redshanks, sandpipers and egrets.
The reserve is also home to some very particular flora too, including the Sea Daffodil, Golden Samphire and Sea Lavender. If you’re lucky, you might spot a Mediterranean Chameleon or a rabbit hiding amongst the shrubs and trees!
Have you ever visited?