The beautiful territory of the Val di Mazara wine and food route which goes down from the Salemi Hills to the sea, is rich of impressive landscapes: natural lakes, stretches of water and brackish hollows alternating with the Mediterranean scrub and the typical sciare of Mazara. All these places are now recognized as protected natural areas, ideal places for resting and wintering of numerous species of seabirds and migratory birds, perfect for bird watching, especially from April to June and from September to October.

This tour can surely start from the border between the towns of Mazara and Petrosino where the land is particularly humid. The “Margi Spano” on the border with Marsala, the “Margi Nespolilla” behind the beautiful beach of “Torrazza”, and “Margi Milo” that extending to the coast, are the largest and most interesting wetlands of the area. Moving from Petrosino to Mazara you come across the large brackish hollow of Capofeto, an oasis separated from the sea by a sandy cord that is totally submerged in winter and dried during the summer. In its stretch of water surrounded by a thick and large marsh vegetation, which includes some rare and significant plants such as Limonium ramosisimum siculum, large flocks of migratory birds such as terns, stop in spring and autumn; it is also significant the presence of sedentary species.

Reached Mazara, the nature tour proceeds toward north of the town along the banks of the River Mazzaro. The area called Miragghianu , from the Arabic Emir-Guyanese, which means “Garden of the Emir,”for the beauty of the vegetation and crops, is the next spot of the tour. A natural and artificial environments where the Mediterranean scrub alternates with the ancient quarries tuff, and the numerous natural caves are a counterpoint to the old water mills. On the right bank of the river there is the Hypogeum of St. Bartolomeo or Beati Paoli, with the ruins of a catacomb, a chapel and traces of anthropomorphic paints on the walls.

Before Torretta-Granitola, a small road will let you discover a series of small lakes covering an area of 335 hectares: Lake Murana, unfortunately dry for some time, Preola Lake, the largest, and three circular shaped stretches of water, the Gorghi Tondi(High, Medium and Low). Located in a large valley surrounded by low hills, these small stretches of water are set in a miraculously intact and luxurious oasis, in a general context of harsh and arid lands. Surrounded by dense marsh vegetation typical of the Mediterranean coastal ponds, slightly salty, on the southern side they are overshadowed by calcareous slopes partially covered by Mediterranean scrub.

The area is in fact a karstic depression where the rain and the weather have eroded the chalky soil to form these natural lakes. The importance of this magnificent natural environment is twofold: on one hand the presence of a dense and rich Mediterranean vegetation, on the other hand the extraordinary abundance of sedentary and migratory ornithology attracted by the nearly desert surroundings of this authentic oasis.