Possible acting on the knowledge that only 18 per cent of the Maltese population are acquainted with the meaning of the term biodiversity, HSBC Malta has launched an awareness campaign, Banking On Survival, mobilising its workforce to disseminate information on biodiversity and raise awareness on species at risk.

To mark World Environment Day, celebrated last Saturday, HSBC put up posters in its branches of species under threat and at risk of extinction in Malta, including the freshwater crab and a large number of sand dune plant species.

Coastal biologist Alan Deidun, who specialises in the ecology of sandy beach communities, last Friday lectured bank employees on Climate Change And Species At Risk In Malta', covering also aspects of the invasive or alien species phenomenon.

Dr Deidun explained that in the Maltese islands, only 24 per cent of sand dune specific plant species were considered to be frequent, with a staggering 94 per cent of the same species being on the decline. There were 23 endemic floral species and about 60 endemic faunal plant species in Malta.

Only 0.3 per cent of the marine area of the Maltese Islands was protected, including Rdum Majjiesa, close to Golden Bay, which also happened to be the beach with the most recent turtle nesting record.

The sand dune plant, marram grass, that used to be located at White Tower Bay, was bulldozed in the late 1980s.

There were only five sandy beaches - Golden Bay, Mellieħa Bay, White Tower Bay, Santa Marija in Comino and Ramla l-Ħamra in Gozo - that harboured some form of sand dune remnant, most of which were heavily disturbed, Dr Deidun noted. Furthermore, only 2.4 per cent of the Maltese coastline was sandy. As a result there was intense human pressure on beaches and sand dunes. Golden Bay, he pointed out, was a prime example of this with dune plants being frequently trampled upon by bathers.

The Mediterranean Sea was warming up at a rate of 0.2 degrees per decade, which was much faster than the rate for other seas. As a result, the Mediterranean was fast being colonised by marine alien (non-indigenous species) of which over 50 have been recorded to date in Maltese waters, Dr Deidun told the bank's staff.

Following the lecture, Jeffrey Sciberras, a botanist, took the staff on a short field lecture at Golden Bay explaining the local sand dune habitats, which are under severe pressure.

"It is HSBC's long-standing commitment worldwide to protect the environment and support ecological projects as part of our responsibility to the local community." said Alan Richards, HSBC Malta CEO. "Climate change and the threat it brings to nature and our planet is one of the most critical issues we face in the 21st century and we acknowledge that action needs to be taken now and before it is too late."

HSBC was the first major bank to go carbon neutral back in 2005. Together with four leading global organisations - The Climate Group, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and WWF - it has set up the HSBC Climate Partnership, a $100 million community investment initiative for climate change research.

So far, over 1,000 HSBC employees, including 35 in Malta, have trained to become climate champions to bring an understanding and encourage action on climate change issues in the organisation and the community.