This treasure of the Algarve is frequently still considered an insider tip: an area of around 18,000 hectares stretches for more than 60 kilometres from the sea to the hinterland, between the city of Loulé in the west and the border with Spain in the east, with beaches, dunes, sand and mud banks, marches, canals, salt pans, salterns, freshwater lakes, agricultural areas, and forests. Add to that a great wealth of species, many of them endangered: otters and polecats are just as much at home here as two rare species of turtles.