NGO pleas for Marsaxlokk salt marsh to be saved

Nature Trust (Malta) today pleaded to MEPA to save the Marsaxlokk Salt Marsh Nature Reserve - known as il-Maghluq.

"The reserve has been left abandoned and MEPA has demanded that no restoration works be carried out by Nature Trust (Malta) until a management plan has been approved. NTM calls on MEPA Environment protection Unit to start the ball rolling again on this site and continue with discussions on the management plan before irreversible damage is done. It is the duty of MEPA to save this habitat," the NGO said.

It said that dumping of rubbish, pollution, seepage of nitrates, vandalism, trampling and infestations of pests and alien species had become the order of the day at the salt marsh.

"Alien plants growing unchecked at the site are destroying local vegetation, and the rat population has increased causing an additional health problem to the users of the Bay."

NTM also called on the Prime Minister as the responsible minister for MEPA to intervene so that a way forward could be found to save the environment.