Malta’s 34 terrestrial Natura 2000 sites will have management plans within the next three years after the Malta Environment and Planning Authority secured over €3.4 million in EU funding for the “ambitious” project.
The plans and legal provisions established through the project would seek to protect a wide range of habitats and species but were not intended to suppress recreational and other economical activities on the sites, Mepa chairman Austin Walker said.
Their aim was to promote the need for the sustainable use of natural and rural resources, with the complete involvement of stakeholders, he insisted.
The co-financing, which has come through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, will also be aimed at increasing awareness of the protected sites among the public and stakeholders, who will be involved in the project.
Describing it is a milestone in the protection of Malta’s rural environment, Mr Walker said the project followed the authority’s intense work over the past years to identify the designated sites, which were inhabited by protected species, and get them approved by the European Commission.
The next step was the preparation of management plans, which was also being complemented by an awareness campaign on the Natura 2000 sites, Mr Walker noted, saying it was a misconception they could not be accessed by anyone.
Environment Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said that, although 20 per cent of Malta’s territory had legal protection, that alone was not enough. Neither were management plans, interim measures and even enforcement sufficient in isolation, he said, insisting on their integration.
One of the mistakes of the past was the lack of a sense of direction in management, he said, adding the biggest mistake of the future would be if the plans were then left on the shelf.
However, as the regulator, it was not Mepa’s role to operate the sites, Dr de Marco said.
He said the project was unique in that it was the first time any EU member state would ensure management planning for every land-based Natura 2000 site through a single initiative.
About eight sites already have management agreements and these will be extended in the interim period and, possibly, revised through the new management plans.
Until the full-blown management plans are finalised, Mepa will issue a call for expressions of interest for the temporary management of those sites that as yet have none.
Over 13 per cent of Malta forms part of the Natura 2000 network and it also has one Natura 2000 site at sea while others were nominated last year and were awaiting approval.
A National Terrestrial Protected Areas Steering Committee will be set up to give direction on the management of the sites and tenders will be issued in the coming months.