One World... Protecting our seas
The area between Rdum Majjiesa and Ras ir-Raheb has been long been identified and proposed as an area in need of protection, in a number of local documents, including The Structure Plan for the Maltese Islands (1990) and the UNEP/MAP Coastal Area...
The area between Rdum Majjiesa and Ras ir-Raheb has been long been identified and proposed as an area in need of protection, in a number of local documents, including The Structure Plan for the Maltese Islands (1990) and the UNEP/MAP Coastal Area Management Programme (CAMP) Report for Malta (2002).
The designation of a marine protected area (MPA) from Rdum Majjiesa to Ras ir-Raheb (NW Malta) was the aim of the MedMPA project, funded through EU-SMAP (small- and medium-term action programme) funds, in which Mepa has participated in collaboration with the Regional Activity Centre for Special Protected Areas and Biodiversity in the Mediterranean (RAC/SPA) which is an activity centre within the UNEP-MAP framework.
The setting up, regulating and managing of MPAs, are obligations that arise from a number of international, regional and national legislation and policies, including: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution and its Protocols Barcelona, Convention on Migratory Species of wild Animals (Bonn Convention) and The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Conventions); the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive) and the local Environment Protection Act and the Development Planning Act.