[4] The Salburua marshes are considered to be "the Basque country's most valuable area of wetland", according to a Fedenatur report for the European Commission in 2004.

At that time there was only a remnant of forest, north of Elorriaga, and a small wet patch near Betoño, in which the last animals and plants characteristic of these environments barely survived.

Since 1994 restoration work and landscaping in the vicinity of the lakes, and along water courses, have helped to recover some of the original wealth of Salburua.

The facilities include an exhibition area, a café, auditorium and a cantilevered observation deck, which extends over a lagoon.

The INBIOS Project aims to improve populations of threatened species: bats, sand martins, waders, herons and otters; improve the conservation status of habitats, especially aquatic vegetation and the edges of ponds; combating invasive alien species of fauna, fish and American freshwater crayfish.

Another objective is to conduct the first pilot project of reintroduction of European mink in the river ecosystems of northern Spain.

[8] Apart from a herd of deer, introduced artificially to the marsh for vegetation control, all the wildlife that lives in the wetland is of wild origin.

Some of them are in the area through the winter and even choose these ponds for breeding, one of the world's most endangered carnivores, the European mink has been re-introduced.