Lowest nature reserve

At around 400 metres (1,310 feet) below sea level, Enot Tsukim Nature Reserve (also known as Ein Feshkha), on the shore of the Dead Sea in Israel, is the lowest on Earth. Even though the Dead Sea is too salty for plants, the wetland region – which is 5.8 kilometres (3.6 miles) long – is considered a desert oasis and has lower salinity because of fresh groundwater flowing in from the Judean Mountains. The wetland is threatened by a continuing drop in the level of the Dead Sea.

Enot Tsukim is also the world's lowest wetland.

The protected area is home to a wide range of wildlife including the spotted leopard (Panthera pardus), the striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena, Israel's largest carnivore), the Dead Sea sparrow (Passer moabiticus) and the Middle Eastern jewel beetle (Sterapsis squamosa, one of among 210 species of insect documented at the reserve).