Zone de protection paysagère de Mártély, Landscape protection area in Csongrád-Csanád County, Hungary

The Mártély Landscape Protection Zone covers 2,260 hectares on the left bank of the Tisza, managed by the Kiskunság National Park Directorate. It has three distinct parts: the northern Mártélyi oxbow lake and Ányás Island, then Kutyafenék, the Körtvélyesi oxbow lake and Barci-rét. The floodplain between the river and the embankments was formed at the end of the 19th century, when earth for the works was dug from numerous pits.

The area was designated as a protected zone in 1971 and later recognized as a Ramsar site in 1979 to safeguard its importance for waterbirds and wetlands. The landscape was shaped by Tisza River regulation, with planted trees now over 80 years old becoming integral to the ecosystem.

Mártély, the village that gives the zone its name, has long drawn painters: János Tornyai, Béla Endre and György Kohán came here from the Hódmezővásárhely artists' colony. A summer art camp has worked on the waterfront for decades, and in November 2005 the municipality opened the Ártéri tanösvény, an educational trail presenting the oxbow's natural values.

The area lies on the left bank of the Tisza, level with Hódmezővásárhely, and is reached from the village of Mártély. The northern part around the Mártélyi oxbow lake and Ányás Island is the busiest section. An educational trail opened in November 2005 presents the oxbow lake's natural values; the terrain is marshy in places, so wear suitable footwear.

The Tisza mayfly (Palingenia longicauda) swarms for only a few days, usually in June; the insect is called tiszavirág in Hungarian, "Tisza flower". The larvae live in the riverbed silt, and after hatching the adults mate in flight above the water surface, then die within hours. Fish, birds and bats feed on the swarm.