The Azure Window and the surrounding area known as Id-Dwejra could help the Maltese reconnect with nature, something they sorely need to do, according to the head of a team trying to gain Unesco world heritage recognition for the site.

“A main objective of this recognition is improving the relationship between man and the environment. This is increasingly important for Malta and the Maltese, as the island is being engulfed in concrete blocks. We need to remind man that he is a part of nature,” Henry Frendo said.

Prof. Frendo is heading a committee of experts who have been allocated some €200,000 to carry out studies on Dwejra to be considered a world heritage site by the UN’s international agency on education, science and culture.

The other members of the team are Catherine Tabone, Claudio Maria Marciano Di Scala, Frank Zammit, Nathaniel Cutajar, Edward Gilson and Yanica Sammut.

The initiative was launched earlier this week by Environment Minister José Herrera, who said the Majjistral Park should also be treated as a national geo-park.

The island is being engulfed in concrete blocks

The team has three years to come up with the necessary studies to apply to the UN’s agency for recognition, and strict criteria will have to be met.

Prof. Frendo told the Times of Malta he was confident the site had the unique qualities that merited Unesco recognition.

He said that he had taken a group of 25 inter­national experts to the site last year, all of whom were interested in the flora and fauna of the area, as well as the site’s particular geology.

Gozo’s iconic Azure Window has been officially established as a no-go zone, the government announced yesterday.

People continue to trespass on the Dwejra window as can be seen from this photo taken by reader Anthony Farrugia yesterday.

Last December, Dr Herrera announced that trespassers on the iconic Gozo landmark would face a hefty €1,500 fine. He explained that the rock formation was slowly being eroded.

An emergency order is valid until June, when it will be replaced by permanent legislation that will allow the Environment Resources Authority to hand out administrative penalties on the spot.

A special committee was also established to analyse ways and means of protecting the landmark.

It consists of two main rock layers: Upper Coralline limestone, a hard, durable stone, and blue clay limestone, a softer, malleable stone susceptible to erosion.

As much as 90 per cent of the outer layer is estimated to have eroded over the past 30 years.

The Gozo Tourism Association and the San Lawrenz council have said that allowing visitors to walk on top of the window was of grave concern but they lacked the resources needed to monitor the area adequately.

A park ranger is expected to be hired to monitor the site.