Mártély covers a section of the River Tisza floodplain featuring oxbow lakes, wet meadows, arable land, scrub and woodland. It is an important breeding area for various waterbirds which are protected under Annex I of the European Union’s Birds Directive, such as the Eurasian bittern (Botaurus stellaris) and Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). The Site is also an important spawning and nursery ground for many fish species such as the threatened sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), and supports a large population of European otter (Lutra lutra).The floodplain plays an important role in flood control, sediment trapping and nutrient retention. Human activities include agriculture, forestry, commercial fisheries and recreation. The main threats to the Site’s ecological character are posed by the colonization of invasive tree species; planting of artificial hybrid poplar species is pushing the native black poplar (Populus nigra) to the verge of extinction in the region. A habitat restoration project has been ongoing since 2009 to restore wet meadows and eliminate exotic species, and a national biodiversity monitoring system for habitats and birds is in place.