Saving shearwaters and ourselves

I was really happy last Monday afternoon to take part in the launching of the project to protect and save the Yelkouan Shearwaters, fascinating birds that breed at Rdum tal-Madonna at L-Ahrax Point, overlooking Mellieha Bay.

Over the years, people have been threatening the survival of this species by littering the area, attracting rats that eat the chicks in the nests. Dumping rubbish, even cars, has also disturbed this site. Inappropriate so-called development has reduced the breeding areas available. Noise and light pollution have also prevented some of the birds from breeding. Hunters using ferrets to catch rabbits have also caused these birds to abandon their nests that they build in burrows. Birds have also been accidentally caught by swallowing baited long-line fishing hooks.

The project aims to reverse all this human damage and rehabilitate this beautiful site with its cliffs and rocky shores. It is exhilarating to walk along the cliff tops smelling the wild thyme Mediterranean heather and Maltese Spurge and get a glimpse of the lizards and butterflies that flourish in the area.

The project is described as "the largest conservation initiative of its kind in Malta". Half of it is funded by the European Union; HSBC and MEPA are also contributing, together with the Malta Maritime Authority, Heritage Malta, Malta Centre for Fisheries Sciences, the Armed Forces of Malta and the conservation organisations BirdLife Malta, RSPB UK and SPEA Portugal. A management plan for the site is being developed that will also act in Malta and the Mediterranean as a blueprint for other protected areas.

We need this project to succeed and we need similar projects around Malta and Gozo to rescue natural resources and heritage that we have destroyed or allowed to deteriorate badly. A few hundred metres away from the project as we left the Red Tower and made our way back through Mellieha Bay and the village of Mellieha, I could see the damage that we have caused to these areas by inappropriate development.

It is shameful that Government is not spending any of the Lm4.4 million of EU structural funds to rehabilitate Mellieha Bay and improve the area which attracts thousands of Maltese and tourists every year.

Sustainable tourism development

An old British couple residing in Mellieha sent me this e-mail: "The building industry is wrecking Malta and wrecking any chance of it getting back to being a tourist attraction. Who wants to visit unfinished places and who wants to visit places which are wrecking their traditional building style to be replaced by modern lifeless-looking blocks which can be seen in all third world countries?

"Here in Mellieha, even the church bells cannot be heard any more for the builders' noises from early morning right into the weekend. At every open space there is some building going on or starting. Existing houses are being pulled down to make room for four-storey buildings plus a penthouse. One minute we think we are on the highest floor and the next minute we are being overlooked by newly built floors.

"Whichever corner you turn in any street in Mellieha, there is heavy building going on. Surely Mellieha cannot take this much more. It is absolutely ruined and if not checked, it is going to look like a mini-Hong Kong. Who wants to come to Mellieha this summer to find cranes and diggers in front or by the side of wherever they are staying?"

In Berlin three weeks ago, during one of the world's main travel and tourism fairs, there was an interesting presentation about sustainable tourism development. Governments were told to "listen to the concerns of locals (they are very likely to be the same as discerning visitors); develop and enforce appropriate legislation; don't be afraid of the 'new tourism' (number-crunching is not the end game); listen to your non-government organisations (although they may appear to be activists/critics/disruptive/attention-seekers they usually have an important message; invest in your people; assist local communities to better organise themselves."

In the same session it was stressed that sustainable tourism is not a luxury item on the travel and tourism agenda but a basic necessity if the industry has to survive and sustain itself in the long term. The example of the Rhine River was examined. The way this former cesspit of Europe was restored has important lessons for other parts of the world.

Sustainable tourism has become a basic necessity because many of today's tourists are more mature, experienced, knowledgeable and environmentally aware. Sustainable tourism development is also a basic necessity because we need to save and restore the environment we have allowed to deteriorate rapidly.

Environmental literacy

We must take all the necessary steps to educate our children and young people about the dangers faced by the environment - and what they can do about it. It is interesting to look at the plans published by the British government two months ago to ensure that, for the first time, issues such as climate change and global warming are at the heart of the school timetable.

Pupils will also be taught to understand their responsibilities as consumers - and weigh up whether they should avoid travel by air to reduce CO2 emissions and shun food produce imported from the other side of the world because of its impact on pollution.

The plans are considered as part of a major review of the secondary school curriculum that will be unveiled by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Government's exams watchdog, next week. They follow criticism of the way schools have addressed the issues of climate change and global warming from - among others - the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dr Richard Pike, its chief executive, warned last January that textbooks were out of date and barely covered the issues. As a result, lessons on the topics were full of "omissions, simplifications and misrepresentations".

Under the new plans, education for sustainable development - covering issues such as energy saving and recycling - will be a compulsory part of the curriculum. Other topics to be studied include looking at the impact of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

Launching the new initiative, Education Secretary Alan Johnson said: "It is inconceivable that young people growing up today should not be taught about issues like climate change - it has enormous relevance to their lives. Children not only learn about our future, they shape it.

No one should consider geography boring - it is one of the most dynamic and exciting subjects children can study today. Serious threats to the planet will remain if we don't take further action."

evaristbartolo@hotmail.com