Comino is one of the few remaining untouched havens in the country, but its landscapes and vast biodiversity are today experiencing unprecedented pressures.

The island is designated a Natura 2000 site, giving it a high level of ecological protection, and a management plan released last year after years of study outlined several recommendations to safeguard the natural environment – yet many challenges and harmful activities persist unabated.

Many challenges and harmful activities persist

“All protected natural habitats, native plants and animals will flourish, and the site’s infrastructure will meet the ecological requirements of the site,” the management plan states in an overall vision for the small island.

“Tourism at the Blue Lagoon will be managed and practised in harmony with the site’s conservation needs. In other parts of the island, rural tourism and outdoor recreation will also be in synchrony with the site’s conservation needs.”

Yet the reality, identified in the plan, is currently very different.

A - Blue Lagoon

The problem of deckchair hawkers breaching regulations and causing inconvenience at the beautiful but terminally overcrowded Blue Lagoon reached a flashpoint this summer after repeated media reports of abuse.

The tourism authority stepped in last month in an enforcement blitz, cutting down on overpricing and ensuring that deckchairs were not laid out before they were had been rented and concession limits were observed.

The number of deckchairs allowed around the bay has been limited to 310, compared to peaks of up to 1,500.

The problem, however, goes further. The bay receives up to 5,000 visitors a day during the height of summer, and boat operators have in recent years extended operations to every month except January and February, increasing tourism pressures year round.

The 2015 management plan calls for the urgent implementation of a carrying capacity assessment, including the seasonal variability of the number of tourists, the landings of tourists by ferries, entrance fee options, zoning and patrolling.

The plan also considers a cap on visitors, as is the case at sensitive ecological sites overseas, due to the negative impact of unrestrained numbers on the natural value of the bay.

Environmental groups have taken up the call, as well as encouraging new, sustainable tourism models to distribute tourists more evenly away from the Blue Lagoon.

A spokeswoman from the tourism ministry indicated that there were no immediate plans for such measures to be put into effect.

B - Roads and Vehicles

Vehicles on Comino are continually on the increase, with a recent visit by this newspaper finding some 14 cars, vans, motorbikes and quad bikes in use.

According to the management plan, this increase poses a serious long-term problem, as vehicles cause dust to disperse and affect the vegetation in the wider vicinity of the roads whenever they drive through, negatively affecting surrounding habitats.

Vehicles are mostly owned by kiosk operators and others who spend most of the summer on the island, apart from the Comino Hotel and the island’s one permanent resident.

A Transport Malta spokesman said no special licence was required to operate a vehicle on Comino, meaning commercial operators are free to ship over vehicles to use on the island.

There have also been several reports in recent months of kiosk operators at the Blue Lagoon charging tourists a fee for transport to Santa Marija bay. The Comino Hotel operates its own such service, exclusively for guests, between the main building at St Nicholas bay and the Santa Marija bungalows.

Two years ago, the rudimentary roads were resurfaced using unconsolidated stone dust, which spilled off into the garigue. However, as the culprit was unknown, the Planning Authority could only issue an enforcement notice against the Commissioner of Lands.

C- Campsite

Santa Marija bay has served as an unofficial campsite for years, drawing large numbers of visitors throughout the summer months, just metres away from the sandy beach.

But the site, formerly a marshland and reed bed, is scheduled for its scientific and ecological importance, and the management plan calls for camping to be immediately halted and the site rehabilitated, following detailed scientific studies.

Currently, a Planning Authority permit is required to camp on Comino, but this is almost universally ignored.

Besides problems of littering, accidental fires and collecting of animals and plants, campers regularly trample over an important area of sand dunes at the back of the beach, a problem exacerbated by a lack of signage.

The plan calls for the area to be fenced off and extended through seeding programmes, with the road behind the beach moved inland to allow the dunes to extend.

The removal of the campsite would also allow a habitat of salt-resistant trees by the beach to move into the area that it now occupies.

D - Kiosks

During the summer months, several mobile kiosks, mostly serving food and drinks, set up shop atop the Blue Lagoon and more recently at Santa Marija Bay, coinciding with a new concession for a deckchair operator at the previously isolated beach.

The abundance of kiosks has a detrimental effect on the garigue, particularly on the western side of the island. There are also doubts among stakeholders as to how many are officially permitted.

Moreover, many of the kiosks are driven back to the Comino Hotel every evening to plug in and recharge their batteries and electronics. According to the management plan, this daily movement from the hotel to the Blue Lagoon and back generates dust from the dirt track between the two sites, which affects the adjoining vegetation.

E - Pig farm

Until recently, the south-west corner of Comino housed a commercial pig farm, developed in 1979 following a swine fever epidemic which wiped out most of Malta’s pig population.

The pig farm has since ceased operations, with the animal quota transferred to the government farm at Għammieri in 2011. A condition was put in place to clean the farm from any waste and sever the link which released effluent into the sea, but this has not yet been carried out.

The farm remains a derelict blight on the landscape and was described by stakeholders as a dumping site during consultation on the management plan.

Although signs have been put up warning the public to stay out, the site remains easily accessible and a potential danger, while electricity poles running along the road from Santa Marija bay stand out against the natural environment.