The Bokroš Salt Marsh is located in the cadastral area of the village of Iža, north of the Iža Canal. It is characterised by very saline soil and the rare species of plants and animals associated with it. The Bokroš Salt Marsh is small in area but significant in its natural value. It is unique not only in our country but across the whole of Europe.
The area has been protected since 1988 as the Bokroš Salt Marsh Nature Reserve, where the 4th level of protection applies, and in its buffer zone (a 100-metre-wide strip from the reserve boundary) the 3rd level of protection. Since 2004, the territory has been part of the European network of protected areas Natura 2000 under the name Site of European Importance Bokroš Salt Marsh. Area size: 10.2 ha.
The Bokroš Salt Marsh is like a small island of life for rare halophyte species in the midst of intensively cultivated agricultural land. It represents a remnant of the northernmost extensions of the Hungarian salt steppes. From the European point of view, the most important habitat on the site is 1340*, known as inland salt marshes, which is one of the EU priority habitats.
Halophyte vegetation is found only on a very small part of the site, usually in terrain depressions. It can be identified by the white colouration of the soil. A large part of the protected area is covered by dry meadows, which are distinguished by great colourfulness and species diversity.
Among the rarest types of halophyte vegetation are the so-called salt eyes. These are places with extremely saline soil and sparse plant cover. Typical halophyte species include the endangered sea plantain Plantago maritima, the salt-loving wormwood Artemisia santonicum, the grey viper’s-grass Podospermum canum, the Pannonian sea-aster Tripolium pannonicum, and the slender hare’s-ear Bupleurum tenuissimum.