Lack of data on Malta's seabirds

Seabird experts agree Malta lacks crucial data to be able to map out marine special protection areas to safeguard birds that breed here.

Although Maltese researchers have been studying seabirds since the late 1960s, the research has been mainly limited to breeding habits on land and little is known about their behaviour at sea, veteran Birdlife researcher Joe Sultana said.

This data gap has to be filled if Malta is to fulfil its EU obligations to protect and manage marine protected areas by 2012. The deadline for member states to present proposed marine protected areas in their national waters to the European Commission was 2008 but to date Malta has not outlined any due to the lack of information.

"The type of research needed to fill the gap requires new technologies that enable the tracking of seabirds out at sea. This requires funding and human resources without which conservation remains mere conversation," said Mr Sultana, a top ornithologist, during an international seminar on the National Marine Special Protection Areas (SPA).

His concerns were echoed by several others who spoke during the seminar which brought together European and African seabird experts from 11 countries.

Andre Raine, from BirdLife Malta, explained that so far the only research carried out towards reaching the EU 2012 obligations was the EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater project that provided extensive research into the habits of the medium-sized bird.

Throughout the project, which started in 2007 and ends next year, a colony at Rdum tal-Madonna in Mellieħa, is being studied and the data collected are expected to be a valuable tool for the identification of Maltese marine SPAs.

Birdlife researcher John Borg said that since the project's implementation several factors that were hindering the Yelkouan Shearwater population in the area were tackled. Curbing the rat infestation, for example, ensured that the bird population in the area could flourish.

In fact the number of chicks ringed increased from nothing to seven in 2007 and went up to 38 in 2008 and 29 this year.

Experts agreed that such studies, like the Yelkouan Shearwater project, should be extended to other colonies and seabird species of which very little was known.

Darrin Stevens, manager within the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's Environment Protection Directorate, explained that the authority was responsible for the designation and maintenance of the SPAs.

Pending the data collection, the authority was working on a National Marine Protection Area Strategy that would be eventually issued for public consultation, Mr Stevens said.