Weevil invades eco-Gozo

The red palm weevil first set foot in the Maltese Islands in 2007. Despite the expanse of the natural adequate sea barrier preventing this weevil from crossing over to these islands – it can only fly a distance of one kilometre – it did manage to get a free ride on infected palm trees imported from Egypt and Europe.

Why has the red palm weevil invasion of eco-Gozo been kept secret to this day?

The bad news was relayed through a press release issued in October, 2007 by the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment informing the public of the red palm weevil’s presence in Malta.

It quickly established itself and from St Paul’s Bay, where the infected trees were located, it spread to Salini, Qawra, Mosta, Attard, Mtarfa, Rabat, Siġġiewi, Żebbuġ, Luqa: in a short spell it spread all over the island.

The transportation of palm trees to Gozo was immediately suspended. The expanse of sea between the islands also served as a natural barrier preventingits dispersal.

A parliamentary question, dated March 25, 2009, revealed that 310 palm trees were uprooted in Malta.

These consisted of 121 from public places and 189 from private gardens. This year, on May 5, another parliamentary question revealed that in the first four months of 2013, a total of 248 palm trees infected by the red palm weevil were uprooted in Malta.

From 2008 to 2013, the total number of palm trees officially uprooted is 558: the result of Maltese biodiversity mismanagement, reflecting the hidden costs paid by society and the eco-system.

I was under the impression (up to May 21) that the red palm weevil was prevented from invading Gozo and that palm trees there were safe.

It was on the basis of what I thought was the situation at the time that I had commented on the red palm weevil on TVM news. Unfortunately, my optimism was short-lived.

No sooner had the news been transmitted than a Gozitan friend of mine phoned to inform me that the red palm weevil had officially established itself in Gozo since September 2012 despite the fact that trees landing at Mġarr, Gozo are monitored.

On the morrow, another Gozitan friend contacted me to tell me that a relative of his had some palm trees on his land, which trees had also been attacked by the red palm weevil.

To add insult to injury, after reporting such infected trees, he was warned by the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Environment that if the infected trees were not uprooted in a couple of days he would be heavily fined to the tune of €666!

Why has the red palm weevil invasion of eco-Gozo been kept a secret to this day?

Why were the Gozitans not informed of the invasion by this weevil so that they could take any precautionary measures they deemed necessary?

Before I am so rudely reminded, I do recall that since the invasion of eco-Gozo by the red palm weevil, there was a general election!

Imported alien species all carry a hidden cost, no matter what politicians, entrepreneurs or public officials say or think.

And while landscapers cash on quick profits, politicians gloat on the number of imported trees and flowers planted and prime ministers tour ecological time bombs, the hidden cost is borne by society and the ecosystem.

Such burden is becoming heavier and heavier. Great Britain, an island, spends £3 billion annually to control three invasive fresh water species.

The EU, the largest importer of alien species, spends €16 billion annually to control the negative impacts of invasive alien species.

Brussels has belatedly realised that the free movement of goods with regard to living species, whether flora or fauna, means playing with a very expensive time bomb.

One hopes that this Government will not follow the path of its predecessor and will immediately intervene and take action.

The red palm weevil is just a living example. There are other invasive alien species, some which have already made their mark and issued invoices, such as the geranium bronze butterfly, the mulberry long-horned beetle, the Asian tiger mosquito. Others are still building on their populations before their impact is felt and seen, such as the land snails that are slowly but surely dispersing outwards from their nurseries.

Social and ecological considerations are not even factored in the maximisation of profits of such businesses, which, up to the ides of March 2013 had political backing.

The bottom line is that eco-Gozo, and Malta, despite obligatory phytosanitary certificates, political half-baked measures, colourful publications and national and international legal obligations have been invaded by an alien species despite persistent warnings.

Gozo is such a small island that the red palm weevil won’t have any problem infesting each and every palm tree there.

Furthermore, it is not that difficult – if there is the will – to trace where new palm trees have been planted.

Along with habitat destruction, over-exploitation and the domino effect of extinction of species, Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist Jared Diamond has included invasive species as one of the “four horsemen” of this ecological apocalypse.

Eco-Gozo and the Maltese ecosystem now have to pay through their noses for such self-inflicted political mismanagement and for ignoring national and international obligations, proving the complete failure of virtual eco-Gozo and the once environmental pillar.

Will this apocalypse horse gallop on unbridled, spurred by financial greed?

aebaldacchino@gmail.com

http://alfredbaldacchino.wordpress.com