Mepa has a plan to conserve the saline marshland known as Il-Magħluq, which it will send to the government by the end of this month for approval.
There have been repeated appeals to save the ecologically important site and last week Marsascala residents teamed up with their local council and Nature Trust in calling on the authorities to save the Natura 2000 site, which they say is also posing a health hazard.
The group says Il-Magħluq homes ducks that are not endemic to the site and are destroying the natural habitat while attracting rats that feed on food left for the birds.
Two years after primary schoolchildren petitioned politicians to save the site from litter, the group is saying that, if no action is taken in the coming days, it will close and clean up the site, put up signage and inform the European Commission.
When contacted, a planning authority spokesman said Mepa has over the past two years developed a management plan for the site that includes measures to improve the conservation status of the area.
The authority recently concluded an EU-funded project which includes the preparation of management plans for all 34 terrestrial Natura 2000 sites on the islands. These plans were drafted after involving stakeholders.
Mepa has now approved the plans and these will be sent to the government for approval, as required by law, this month, the spokesman said.
Details about the measures would then be published.
Meanwhile, when contacted, a spokesman for the Parliamentary Secretariat for Animal Welfare said officers from the Animal Welfare Directorate and a veterinarian from the Veterinary Regulation Directorate have visited the site.
They made a preliminary assessment and forwarded recommendations for the reduction of breeding as well as for the capture and relocation of the ducks to the Environment Ministry and the planning authority.
The spokesman said the directorate has also identified potential alternative sites for the ducks.
Apart from the relocation, the group has also appealed for bins to be installed, skips to be relocated, education boards about the Natura 2000 site to be put up, CCTV to deter vandalism and pest control to eliminate the rodents.