Mepa had cordoned off a section of garigue land just behind the Blue Lagoon in Comino to protect biodiversity.

The Blue Lagoon used to be congested with a mass of deckchairs and umbrellas until last year, when Mepa and the Malta Tourism Authority stepped in to enforce regulation (See picture).

The MTA last year and again this year awarded a tender for the hiring out of deckchairs and umbrellas within specified boundaries.

Mepa, meanwhile, said it has installed a number of information panels about the biodiversity of the tiny island and installed wooden bollards to cordon off a sensitive area of garigue land close to the Blue Lagoon. No beach furniture is to be allowed there.

Comino is a Natura 2000 site. Its garigue habitat is characterised by low-lying aromatic and spiny woody shrubs which are between 50cm and 150cm in height and resistant to drought and exposure.

A mass of umbrellas and deckchairs at the Blue Lagoon early last summer.A mass of umbrellas and deckchairs at the Blue Lagoon early last summer.

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