Among the many landmarks of the Occitania region, the salt marshes of Aigues-Mortes form a landscape with pinkish waters colored by the beta-carotene found in a micro-algae known as Dunaliella Salina. The saltworks, which extend over an area equivalent to the inner city of Paris (19,770 acres/8,000 ha), are located just 30 minutes from Montpellier. A protected reserve, the Aigues-Mortes salt marshes also represent a large food reservoir for the many species of birds passing through it. In order to produce salt, seawater is pumped from the Mediterranean Sea and then circulates through dozens of basins.