History

A PLACE CREATED BY THE RIVER

In the lower part there alternate layers of sandy clay and argillaceous gravel, while the upper part consists of layers of river deposits and sea silt. Well perceivable are various changes in the sediment (bivalves and gastropods) and dark sediments of organic matter (leaves, stems, roots), indicating that the Dragonja mouth was here and there marshy for shorter periods of time. The fossil remains of sea silt show that at the Sečovlje Dale the sedimentation of sea environment often alternated with the brackish environment. Through the constant depositing of alluvia, the bottom at the Dragonja estuary was gradually raised, creating the conditions necessary for the salt-pans to be set up.

804: The first record of the Piran salt-pans. The Placitum of Risano relative to the discussion by delegates of Karl the Great at Risano/Rižana about the Pag salt-pans. At that time, there were several small salt-pans in Piran owned by monasteries.

933: The towns of the eastern Adriatic sign an agreement on compulsory sale of salt to the Venetian Republic, which during its struggle for the economic supremacy in the Mediterranean destroyed salt-pans in the west, while in Istria and in the Northern Adriatic it gradually enabled the municipalities, in order to retain its influence, even a partial independence in the production of salt.

1274 – 1278: In the period 1274 - 1278, the Piran Salt Pans consisted of the Fazan Salt Pans in Lucija, the Strunjan Salt Pans and the Sečovlje Salt Pans. The Statutes of the City of Piran define the regulation of the salt pans and the city's rights to produce and trade salt.

1358: In order to increase the economic effect of salt-making, the salt-making procedure was modernised in Piran following the Pag salt-pans example. The latter yielded white salt made on gypsum substratum, with microbiological elements, which constituted the so-called petola.

1460: During the new wave of salt-pan destruction in the Mediterranean, with which the Venetians once again wished to strengthen their power, the Piran salt-pans remain untouched and become the largest as well as the most significant pans in the northeastern Adriatic and in the entire Venetian Republic. With ample town income, the Piran people carry out some great infrastructural works in their salt-pans. At the end of the 14th century they begin to build regular shaped basins in successive order of evaporation and crystallisation basins. There follows and almost 300 years long golden age of the Piran salt-pans, which is here and there disturbed only by natural disasters and a blind wish by certain individuals to get rich.

1797: The Venetian Republic goes to ruin, and the Istrian salt-pans are taken over by the Austrian administration.

1814: The Austro-Hungarian monarchy proclaims salt a state monopoly.

1903: The Austrian Government purchases salt-fields from small owners and opts for a more intense management in order to defeat the competitors. It introduces the use of Beaume's aerometer and strengthens the protective embankments. At Lera, it joins several crystallisation basins into one in the centre of the pans, surrounded by basins of different evaporation grades. It orders salt to be gathered every 7 to 8 days (which was later again abandoned and daily gathering reintroduced) and carted off by wheelbarrows.

1918: After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Piran salt-pans are taken over by the Italians. They reconstruct them, which has a positive effect on the quality and quantity of produced salt.

1945: This was the time of the Free Territory of Trieste and good seasons with high utilisation of the pans.

1957: In the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Piran salt-pans are quickly subjected to the so-called »final reconstruction«. The Dragonja river is redirected and joined with the St. Odorik stream to prevent the floods in the area. In spite of the exuberant manpower and favourable weather conditions, which could certainly bring success, especially considering that during the best season no less than 40,000 tons of salt was harvested, the wider interest was channelled into salt-mines.

1960: The origin of the project of a thorough reconstruction of the Piran salt-pans for the purpose of industrial production of salt. The permit to exploit mineral raw materials at Fontanigge, Lera, Fazan and Strunjan is obtained by the firm Piranske soline, Portorož. A year later, a concession for a permanent use of land and buildings of social property in this area is acquired by it as well.

1967: The company Piranske soline merges with Droga Portorož.

1968: Owing to the exuberant production and maintenance costs, production of salt is permanently abandoned in the sectors of Fontanigge and Fazan (at Lucija).

1976: The beginning of the decade, in which several studies are made, in which the pans' infrastructure is improved and economic measures implemented to increase the pans' utilisation, but with no great success.

1988: Setting up of the firm SOLINE Pridelava soli d. o. o., daughter company of Droga Portorož.

1990: Municipal decree on proclamation of Sečovlje and Strunjan Salina Parks.

1992: In the Act regarding the succession of the Republic of Slovenia as far as conventions ratified by the former state are concerned, the Sečovlje salt-pans are included on the List of wetlands of international importance under the auspices of the Ramsar Convention.

1993: In the resolution on the significance of Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, the Piran Executive Council expresses its interest in Droga Portorož managing the Nature Park and functioning as a principal of salt-production in this area. The decree on conditions of spatial arrangement at the same time defines the area to be also used for maricultural purposes and health tourism.

1999: On the basis of the Law on nature conservation, Droga Portorož cedes the production of salt to the company SOLINE Pridelava soli d. o. o.

2000: SOLINE Pridelava soli d. o. o. takes part in the public invitation to bid for the manager of Sečovlje Salina Nature Park and eventually becomes its manager.

2001: The Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopts the Decree on Sečovlje Salina Nature Park with intention to protect this area of great natural values and to conserve the high biodiversity of this typical saline ecosystem.

2002: SOLINE Pridelava soli d. o. o. becomes the property of Mobitel d.d.

2003: The concession act was adaptet by the Government of the Rebublic of Slovenia by wich the management of the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park was entrusted to SOLINE Pridelava soli d.o.o. for the period of 20 years.

2004: On April 30th 2004, the Government of Slovenia ratified the NATURA 2000 sites with its Decree on special areas of conservation (Natura 2000 sites), Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia No. 49/04, and Decree on alterations and supplements in the Decree on special areas of conservation (Natura 2000 sites), Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia No. 110/04. In spite of the secured legal protection on a national scale (Decree of the Republic of Slovenia on Sečovlje Salina Nature Park) and international protection framework (the Ramsar Convention Regulations), ideas about all kinds of encroachments upon the salina area and its transformation can still be detected in various (municipal and national) planning documents. For this very reason, the proclamation of Natura 2000 is no doubt of crucial importance, given that the state is obliged to protect and suitably conserve such areas.

2011: During its regular session held on June 30th 2011, the Government of Slovenia adopted the Decree on Sečovlje Salina Nature Park management plan for the 2011-2021 period. The Decree is based on the Law on nature conservation and on the Decree on Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, was announced by the Government Communication Office. The Law clearly stipulates the manner of preparation of the protected area management plan, whereas the Decree on Nature Park states that a management plan is required to be adopted for the Sečovlje Salina management. The adopted Decree thus clearly defines the management plan as well as stipulates the conditions for investment maintenance and investing in real property owned by the state. The new management plan is valid for ten years – till 2021. This is a program document that specifies the vision and development of Sečovlje Salina for this particular period. The plan was drafted on the basis of valid regulations and international conventions from the sphere of nature conservation as well as assessment and analyses of condition of the Park. Also considered in this respect were the economic activities concerning use of the Salina's mineral raw material (salt) that take place on the grounds of concession granted, as well cultural heritage protection activities carried out within the framework of Museum of Salt-making.

2021: 20 years of the Sečovlje Saline Landscape Park. The Sečovlje Saline Landscape Park celebrates its 20th anniversary. 20.04.2021 The year 2021 marks the anniversaries of five of Slovenia's nature parks.On 20 April, it will be twenty years since the Government of the Republic of Slovenia designated the area of the Sečovlje Saline Landscape Park, the first managed landscape park along the Slovenian coast. It also marks the 60th anniversary of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which people recognise by its famous panda logo.

2023: On 28.09.2023, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia extended the concession contract for the management of the KPSS for 10 years by an annex to SOLINE Pridelava soli d.o.o..

2024: On 23.12.2024, the Government issued the Regulation on the Management Plan of the Sečovlje Saline Landscape Park for the period 2024 - 2034. The Regulation on the Management Plan of the Sečovlje Saline Landscape Park for the period 2024-2034 was published in the Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia on 24.12.204, effective from 8.1.2025.