This saline marshland at l-Għadira, together with the adjacent sand dune system, is one of the few remaining habitats of this type in the Maltese islands. Besides its ecological value, this location is home to a considerable number of endemic and rare taxa. Three species of flora and 22 species of fauna have only been recorded at this location.

Qammieħ valley transports freshwater downhill from Il-Mejjieli to l-Għadira, thus sustaining the wetland's hydrological regime. Without this supply of water the wetland at Għadira would not exist. In 1978, the saline marshland at l-Għadira was declared a bird sanctuary and two years later habitat engineering works were carried out to transform the site to the present state. Before this intervention the wetland used to be a saline marshland that dried up during the summer months.

Today the brackish pool still becomes increasingly saline in summer but never dries out completely.

Mepa scheduled Għadira nature reserve, and a diverse assemblage of important habitat types within its surrounding environs, as per Government Notice No. 491/06 in the Government Gazette dated June 6, 2006.