The ducks at Il-Magħluq will finally be removed from the saline marshland in Marsascala, following repeated appeals over recent years to conserve the Natura 2000 site.

This is one of the measures proposed in Mepa’s management plan to conserve the lagoon, which is home to the critically endangered Maltese killifish.

The waterfowl will be removed, quarantined and then relocated. The ducks are alien to this environment and are highly likely to be having an adverse impact on the site and water quality, a Mepa spokesman told this newspaper.

The ducks will probably be taken to two public areas.

The water at Il-Magħluq, which is categorised as a Special Area of Conservation, is gathered from the surrounding villages and meets the seawater from the inner bay.

Originally two interconnected fishponds lined with layered stones, it is one of the only two remaining marshes in the south.

The brackish water is home to peculiar salt-tolerant marsh communities and critically en­dangered protected species that include the killifish and wetland plants such as rushes.

The introduction of the ducks is believed to have led to a decline in the health of the marshland. The ducks’ food attracts rats and rubbish is dumped on site.

When it rains, floodwater from an adjacent street ends up in the marshland. The site is notorious for its foul smell – in September of 2013, residents woke up to the stench of hundreds of dead fish floating in the saline marshland.

The saline marshland at Il-Magħluq in Marsascala.

There have been repeated appeals to save the site and last October, Marsascala residents teamed up with their local council and Nature Trust in calling on the authorities to do something.

The group warned that, if no immediate action was taken, they would close and clean up the site, and inform the European Commission.

However, Mepa says it has a plan to conserve the marshland. The authority recently concluded an EU-funded project which includes the management plan for all 34 terrestrial Natura 2000 sites.

The plans now need to be approved by the government.

A spokesman for the authority said the measures include regular inspection of the lagoon-sea interface connection and its regular cleaning and maintenance to improve the water conditions of the pond.

The pipes leading to the sea were flushed with a high pressure water jet last December and a spokeswoman for the Infrastructure Ministry said that the pipes were being cleaned at least twice a year.

The ministry has a pending development application to dredge the pond to lower the depth of the silt and improve the water condition.

Another measure is pest control programmes, particularly for rodents.

The plan also suggests regular patrolling and surveillance of the site, which might also include the installation of CCTV.

A number of new panels will give information on the site’s importance and why the waterfowl have been removed.