A rat feeds on food left for the birds.

Marsascala residents have teamed up with their local council and Nature Trust to make their final call to the authorities to save the saline marshland known as il-Magħluq.

If no action is taken in the coming days, they will take matters in their own hands: they will close and clean up the site, put up signage and install a CCTV system as well as inform the European Commission.

The group said il-Magħluq was a Natura 2000 site which had become dilapidated over the years and was now also posing a health hazard.

An important ecological area and home to an indigenous species of fish, the site was not what it used to be 20 years ago. It was also homing ducks that were destroying the natural habitat and attracting rats that fed on food left for the birds, the group said.

Despite repeated appeals to the authorities to save the ecologically important site, no action had been taken, it said.

Last year, Nature Trust Malta urged the authorities to relocate scores of ducks at il-Magħluq as they were not a natural part of the habitat and were damaging the ecology of the area.

We want to make a stand. This rare ecological site requires short-term conservation measures

In 2012, primary schoolchildren even petitioned politicians to save the marshland from litter, garbage and duck droppings.

“We want to make a stand. This rare ecological site requires short-term conservation measures but none of the responsible authorities are even moving a finger despite their area of responsibility,” a spokesman for the group said.

“This is shameful. Due to this lack of responsible action the group has no other option but to do what is necessary and inform the Environment Directorate General of the European Commission about the situation,” the group said.

The group is calling for the relocation of the ducks, the installation of bins, the relocation of skips used by restaurants in the area, the installation of educational boards about the Natura 2000 site, CCTV to deter vandalism and pest control to eliminate rodents.

The group called on the government to help make this area beautiful and the site enjoyable while restoring its conservation status.