Conservation of Traditional Salt-making
Although the present economic role of SSNP is subjected to the conservational and cultural roles, the conservation of salt-making practices is sustained by the awareness of this rich cultural heritage. At the same time, the reserve of ecologically precious living environment is highly valuable to us humans as well, and is a memory of once rich Mediterranean cultural heritage and landscape that is rapidly disappearing in front of our very eyes.
At Fontanigge, salt-making was abandoned in the 1960s. Within the activities carried out by the Museum of Salt-making, however, salt is still produced for demonstration purposes in the manner originating from the 14th century. Here, each salt field once presented an independent salt-pan, with its own basins for seawater thickening and crystallization.
At Lera (still an »active« area), the salt fields earmarked for salt crystallization are separated from the fields used for seawater thickening (evaporation basins). The difference between the two manners of salt production therefore lies in the technological procedure of brine preparation, while salt gathering and different working tools have remained unchanged. The common characteristic of both salt-pan areas lies in the fact that petola (a special type of biosediment that prevents sea mud merging with salt and retains incorporation of separate ions into salt) is cultivated in crystallization beds by salt workers.
With this kind of salt-making, the SSNP is preserving the traditional salt production of this area.