Ramla to stay rocky until nature gets on with its work

Ramla Bay may have sand in its name but the "exceptional" amount of rocks and pebbles covering a large part of the beach would make one think otherwise.

And the situation might not change so drastically, according to the director of Gaia Foundation, the NGO which manages the site.

This week, the Xagħra local council complained the beach was in a disastrous state and said the Malta Environment and Planning Authority was "dragging its feet" in issuing a permit to remove the stones before the summer.

However, Mepa's Environment Protection Directorate said it never received any application from the Xagħra council or anyone else for the removal of large quantities of stones from Ramla Bay in Gozo.

The authority also questioned why it was being dragged into this issue when the council was aware the site was managed by an NGO.

Mepa said the pebbles brought ashore were part of the beach's natural dynamic, where stronger currents in winter brought pebbles ashore and depleted the beach of sand, while in summer smaller waves and weaker currents brought more sand ashore, sometimes covering the pebbles.

This year, however, more pebbles appear to have been brought ashore.

Gaia director Rudolf Ragonesi said the solution was not to remove the stones from the beach, as these formed an integral part of the Maltese islands' only remaining intact sand dune.

He said the boulders, which extended 30 metres into the shore, were "most probably not pushed up by the sea" but were uncovered by strong winds. This process, he said, was a regular occurrence and nature itself could solve the problem within weeks.

"This happened last year as well, and we had addressed the problem by placing the rocks into clusters to avoid inconvenience for visitors. No one complained last year though.

"Also, allowing people to remove stones from the area would open the door for people to start using these for construction, which would be bad for the preservation of the site," Dr Ragonesi said.

Meanwhile, representatives from Gaia and Mepa met on site and guidelines on the way these stones should be dealt with are expected to be handed to the NGO today.