A method of evaluation based on criteria of diversity, rarity, area, and representativity of bird and carábidos communities of the Mar Menor region (Murcia, SE Spain) has been used to define protection and management proposals for its land use planning communities and their more representative ecological sites. Among the conclusions of this study, the operativity of the methodological approach proposed, the usefulness of considering animal groups of such a different nature, the capacity of discrimination of the formulation of the rarity criterion made, and the faunistic value of all kind of wetlands (salt pans, salt marshes, reed beds and even irrigation pools) and other sites of the agricultural and low mountain landscapes.