The Ebro Delta, covering an area of 320 km2, the largest aquatic habitat in Catalonia and offers a rich diversity of environments. River, sea, bays, beaches, dunes, saltmarshes, riverside woodlands, coastal lagoons, fluvial islands and ullals (pools), make up its natural landscape, and, along with the rice paddies, are home to a great variety of living things (birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and so on) adapted to the different habitats. This biological wealth contrasts with the extensive human presence. To ensure harmony between the natural values and their exploitation by local people, and at their behest, in 1983 the Government of Catalonia declared the Ebro Delta a natural park (7,802 ha).