Transport Minister Austin Gatt's sudden interest in Għadira's sandy beach comes as no surprise. The argument he put forward that the Għadira beach would be lost due to the existing road is simply a smokescreen to cover the ecological impact of building a new road in a protected Natura 2000 site.

The Transport Minister admits there are no studies to back up his claim but at the same time tries to ignore the impact of the new road on the protected habitats in Għadira.

According to the Transport Ministry, "the garigue is by definition the lowest grade of natural habitat in our islands". The shocking thing about this statement is that garigue happens to be one of the richest and most diverse habitats in the Maltese islands. And ironically enough, the garigue habitat the proposed road will destroy is one of the main reasons why this area was designated a Special Area of Conservation under EU law.

The planned road will not only cause loss of habitat in the protected area but will also cause permanent and irreversible disturbance to the Foresta afforestation project site and Għadira nature reserve. Furthermore, the new road - unlike the existing road - will be elevated and therefore its visual impact on the ecosystem is likely to be more pronounced.

Moreover, there is no guarantee that once the road is built, there will be no further development next to it. Roads of this nature, which are built in hitherto undisturbed habitats, are known to provoke further development.

Dr Gatt also wants us to believe that once the existing road is removed, some unknown force will immediately cover the whole land with sand. He does not explain the coastal processes that will replenish the Għadira beach so suddenly.

Any expert will tell Dr Gatt that it is impossible to know whether the beach will grow or simply diminish following removal of the road, without a firm understanding of the coastal geomorphology of the area. One possible outcome is that the beach will remain the same size and simply move backwards.

He seems to ignore all the other factors like coastal processes and the effect of other man-made structures in the area.

On the other hand, there are concerns that the removal of the road can pose a serious threat to the Nature Reserve. For example, in the event of a storm it could become vulnerable.

Dr Gatt also argues that doing nothing is not an option when in fact he created the illusion of a problem without having any science to back him up. The Għadira beach will still be there long after we are gone. But if we follow his logic that this is an imminent threat then we should also ask him if he is ready to shoulder the responsibility of the whole Għadira valley being underwater due to sea level rise as a result of climate change.

A new paper published in Science magazine concluded that an improved estimate between 0.8 and two metre sea level rise was possible by the end of the century. Removing the road which acts as a barrier could mean that the whole valley. including the Nature Reserve, ends up underwater. How about this as a threat, Dr Gatt?

Another question he insists on ignoring is how he actually justifies, from a transportation point of view, replacing a four-lane road that has no traffic problems with a two-lane road. But the Transport Minister - rather than those responsible for the environment or tourism - continues to put forward these arguments while the Malta Tourism Authority and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority remain silent.

This comes as no surprise, since none of these authorities has any data to back up a project that will mainly benefit the Seabank Hotel, which has already submitted a development application to almost double in size.

One other thing Dr Gatt apparently wants to keep out of the public domain is the fact that a few years ago the Seabank owner made a presentation to government ministers about having a beach in front of his hotel.

Prime Minister Gonzi's public announcements and promises that the environment will be top of his agenda now appear to be nothing but an election stunt. Designating ecologically important habitats as protected areas alone is not enough. It is just the first critical step towards giving Maltese wildlife effective legal protection.

The Għadira road project is a symbol of how this government looks at nature conservation. The Għadira road project - like many other development projects in the pipeline including Ta' Ċenċ - poses yet another threat to the limited protected areas in the Maltese islands.

This is a big test for the government. Time will tell whether it is serious about conservation or not.

Mr Temuge is the executive director of Birdlife Malta.