A total of €6 million could be spent on protected areas if an application by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to set up management plans for every Natura 2000 site is accepted.
About €400,000 of that would be spent on an educational campaign about these Natura 2000 sites that represent over 13 per cent of Malta's territory.
Meanwhile, being the UN and EU International Year of Biodiversity, Mepa is embarking on an awareness campaign to explain the importance of the island's biodiversity, which was under threat.
Half of its species and two thirds of its natural habitats were in an inadequate status, said Ecosystems Unit manager Darren Stevens, with woodland and Malta's 70 species of trees being the most at risk.
Malta's biodiversity should be more protected, given that it was unique to the islands, Mr Stevens said, pointing out that the Maltese were unaware of their own indigenous plants and hardly anyone knew, for example, that sperm whales inhabited its seas.
In a European survey, only 18 per cent of the Maltese reported even knowing what biodiversity meant.
Having survived the Ice Age only in Malta, some of its plants were, ironically, under threat today, Mr Stevens continued, listing land development, invasive alien species and even climate change as the most significant perils.
Among its initiatives in favour of biodiversity, Mepa has been working on eradicating invasive alien species from sensitive areas, such as St Paul's Islands and Ramla l-Ħamra.
Malta's biodiversity was part and parcel of its cultural identity and landscape and the growing problem of its loss meant its protection had to be promoted, Mepa chairman Austin Walker said.
The next step was, in fact, the drawing up of a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan together with the Office of the Prime Minister.
Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco praised the work of Mepa's environment directorate, which is about to be boosted by another 45 employees, saying it required courage in its hard decisions and needed to be strengthened further.
More priority should be given to the environment over development policies, he maintained.
Dr de Marco said internal discussions were under way for the more efficient management of Natura 2000 sites because it was not enough to simply designate them.