Malta 'advanced' on Natura 2000

Malta is at an advanced stage of preparation for Natura 2000 sites, Mepa said yesterday.

Natura 2000 is an ecological network in the territory of the European Union.

In May 1992, governments of the EU adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. This legislation is called the Habitats Directive and complements the Birds Directive adopted in 1979. These two directives are the basis of the creation of the Natura 2000 network.

The Birds Directive requires the establishment of Special Protection Areas while the Habitats Directive similarly requires Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to be designated for other species, and for habitats.

Mepa said that Malta is the most advanced of the EU member states that joined the EU in 2004 in its progress to designate sites under the Habitats Directive. Its preparations, carried out by Mepa, have reached a sufficiency of 92.6 per cent. Malta proposed sites in 2004 and 2006 for inclusion in the Natura 2000 Network. In view of the Habitats Directive, discussions were held during bilateral meetings between the European Commission's DG Environment and Malta.

A bio-geographical seminar was also held late last year, for the new Mediterranean member states, Malta and Cyprus. These seminars are organised by the European Commission (EC) and the European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (ETC/BD).

Such discussions lead to an assessment of each habitat and species listed in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive and present in the particular member state. Subsequently, an indication is obtained as to whether such habitats and species are sufficiently represented through the proposals forwarded to the Commission.

The ETC/BD published its results in terms of member states' state of progress up to June 2007.

For further information on Natura 2000, one may refer to Mepa's website, at www.mepa.org.mt, or e-mail at nature.protection@mepa.org.mt