Malta’s National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan 2012 – 2020
Malta is a country relatively rich in biodiversity. This diversity of indigenous and endemic species and their habitats constitute Malta’s natural capital. Such diversity is important as it maintains the functioning of a healthy natural environment and also provides us with multiple benefits in the form of life-supporting services, which are essential for our wellbeing and for the productivity of various economic sectors.
Although there are various ongoing efforts in support of biodiversity conservation, concern remains over the status of biodiversity and its loss. Direct drivers of biodiversity loss include pollution, overexploitation and land degradation. Indirect drivers of biodiversity loss are socio-cultural factors which result in the inefficient use of natural resources, such as unsustainable consumer choices.
The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2012 – 2020 for Malta serves as a national policy driver to integrate biodiversity concerns into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies, especially those that can have a bearing on Malta’s biological and natural resources. This policy has been given the theme “working hand-in-hand with nature” and a long-term vision that “All Maltese citizens will value the importance of Malta’s biodiversity and work hand-in-hand with nature in their daily lives. Efforts aimed at sustainable and more resource-efficient choices and actions by local communities and relevant sectors have contributed to a significant improvement in the status of Malta’s biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, for the well-being of present and future generations.” To achieve this, the document proposes:
- 19 national targets to be achieved by 2020;
- strategic directions seen as pre-requisites for reaching the targets; and
- a suite of 80 focused, action- and outcome-oriented measures grouped under the following 18 thematic areas.
While reflecting national priorities for biodiversity, these targets are also complementary to the 2020 global Aichi targets defined in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 under the framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as well as the targets defined in the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. By doing so, Malta’s NBSAP shall contribute towards the global efforts for halting and reversing the trend of loss of biodiversity.
For more information on this policy, please contact [email protected]
Documents
Malta’s National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan 2012 – 2020
Malta’s Sixth National Report on the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2019)
Malta’s Fifth National Report on the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2014)
