Although most tourist activity is based around the coast, Ibiza has much to offer inland. Journey off the beaten track to find untouched villages that still reflect much of the incredible history of the island. Many are just a cycle ride away from your Ibiza apartment or your hotel in Ibiza. As to the coast, you'll feel amazed the island's beautiful sunsets and the special magnetism of some islets as Es Vedrà and Es Vedranell. The Natural Reserve of Cala D'Hort and Las Salinas, the later partly located at the south of Ibiza and partly in Formentera, including the sea strip that separates them and the islets called Es Freus, are the two main areas of environmental value.These are Ses Salines of Ibiza and Formentera, salt pans and marshes which were designated a Natural Reserve in 1995. Endemic plant and animal communities co-exist here in a rich ecosystem where salt is a dominant feature. All this makes their landscapes and beaches unique and unrepeatable. In earlier times, Ibiza was called the island of salt, and it is so to such an extent that its inhabitants were guaranteed a supply of the condiment by law. The first ones to exploit the marshes were the Carthaginians, towards the 5th Century BC. After the re-conquest of Spain from the Moors, they passed over to being the property of the University and became one of the most important saltworks in the Mediterranean. For various centuries they belonged to the Crown, until they passed into private hands with the sale of Church lands by Mendizábal in 1835. Today the extraction of salt continues as in the past, using traditional methods and creating a landscape of white mountains which seem to have come from another world. Since 1995 this area has formed part of the Sea and Land Natural Reserve of Ses Salines. It includes almost all the southern tip of Ibiza, the north of Formentera and the islets which separate both islands. It is an ecosystem with a rich diversity, designated an Area of Special Protection for Birds. Among the 124 catalogued species are herons and flamingos which are easy to sight on their migratory journeys from July to October and from February to May. The vegetation is conditioned by the salinity of the ground. There is a predominance of the endemic sempervivum, reeds and plants which thrive in brackish water. The hills, with a lower concentration of salt, are covered with savin juniper bushes, pine forests and shrub land of rosemary and rock roses.