Protecting the natural heritage in the Maltese islands (21)
Wied Musa
Wied Musa is a valley system located off Ix-Xagħra tal-Marfa at Cirkewwa, Mellieħa incised in the Upper Coralline Limestone formation.
The most important component of the vegetation community of Wied Musa is the Long-Bracted Sedge (Carex extensa) a species listed in the Red Data Book for the Maltese Islands as Endangered. This plant grows along the valley bottom where pools of water accumulate during the wet season.
Part of the watercourse has been blocked by the construction of dams across the valley floor. Wied Musa used to support a saline marshland at the mouth of the valley but this was practically obliterated when a temporary road, which is now disused and blocked, was built over it during construction works on the coast road leading to the Gozo ferry terminal.
In an effort to protect the remnant habitats and the endangered species within this locality MEPA issued an Emergency Conservation Order, followed by the scheduling of part of Wied Musa as a Level 1 Site of Scientific Importance, with a Level 3 buffer zone as per Government Notice No. 661/94 in the Government Gazette dated October 11, 1994.
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alfred agius
Dec 29th 2009, 20:24
Can il-Wied ta` Sant Antnin and Wied il-Baruni be addressed in One World...Protecting the natural heritage in the Maltese islands. Thank you
Adrian Borg Cardona
Dec 29th 2009, 15:40
Why does MePA keep on fooling us with these adverts? The protection given by it to these wonderful natural sites means absolutely nothing. Let me remind you what the MePA Auditor had to say about the infamous Bahrija permit to build a villa at the bottom of a 'protected' valley. He concluded that the Development Control Commission completely ignored all policies meant to protect and safeguard the environment, ignoring all policies and advice from the properly constituted bodies of Mepa without giving any plausible justification for such action. In his report following an investigation requested by the land owner, the former PN president himself, auditor Joe Falzon said that members were bent on seeing that the application was approved, irrespective of any policies.
The Auditor also said: “The assessment of this application, particularly by the DCC, should read: How to damage the natural environment with the blessing of the authorities responsible to safeguard it.”
He said that “the extreme arrogance shown by the DCC in ignoring all policies and advice from the properly constituted bodies of Mepa without giving any plausible justification for such action is unbelievable.”