Malta was granted €1.3 million through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to co-finance a project in order to meet the obligations emanating from the Habitats and Birds Directives. The overall aim of this project, entitled “Natura 2000 Management Planning for Malta and Gozo” was to establish management plans and legal provisions for the management of all terrestrial Natura 2000 sites in the Maltese Islands and to increase awareness of Natura 2000 amongst the general public and stakeholders. The project was formally launched by the then Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) in January 2013. It was implemented through collaboration between the then MEPA and Epsilon International SA – Adi Associates Environmental Consultants Ltd Consortium through a service contract.
The consideration of site management emanates from a legal requirement to prepare conservation measures for protected sites under the Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549), as transposed from the EC Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC).
The management planning exercise involved gathering information, carrying out surveys, defining conservation objectives, and identifying management measures, with intensive stakeholder involvement throughout the entire exercise. A secondary component of the service contract involved an awareness campaign on terrestrial Natura 2000 sites in the Maltese Islands amongst the public at large and amongst specific target groups, such as farmers and land managers.
A Management Plan was compiled for most of the sites forming part of the terrestrial Natura 2000 Network, while a Conservation Order was considered to be a more appropriate tool for the smaller sites. These tools became effective after the publication of relevant Government Notices of 14 December 2016, as per tables below.
Name of terrestrial Natura 2000 site | Vision fiche | Government Notice |
---|---|---|
L-Inħawi ta’ Għajn Barrani | Link | G.N. 1371 of 2016 |
Il-Maqluba (limiti tal-Qrendi) | Link | G.N. 1372 of 2016 |
L-Għadira s-Safra | Link | G.N. 1373 of 2016 |
Ix-Xagħra tal-Kortin | Link | G.N. 1374 of 2016 |
Għar Dalam (limiti ta' Birżebbuġa) | Link | G.N. 1375 of 2016 |
Iċ-Ċittadella | Link | G.N. 1376 of 2016 |
Filfla u l-Gżejjer ta’ Madwarha | Link | G.N. 1377 of 2016 |
Il-Gżejjer ta’ San Pawl (Selmunett) | Link | G.N. 1378 of 2016 |
All other terrestrial Natura 2000 sites* | ᵟ | G.N. 1379 of 2016 |
*Management plans and ᵟvision fiches for all the other terrestrial Natura 2000 sites can be found in the table below.
Name of terrestrial Natura 2000 site | Vision fiche | Management plan | Annex |
---|---|---|---|
Il-Ballut ta’ Marsaxlokk | Link | Link | Link |
Il-Ballut tal-Wardija | Link | Link | Link |
Il-Magħluq tal-Baħar ta’ Marsaskala | Link | Link | Link |
Il-Qortin tal-Magun u l-Qortin il-Kbir | Link | Link | Link |
Is-Salini | Link | Link | Link |
Is-Simar (limiti ta’ San Pawl il-Baħar) | Link | Link | Link |
Kemmuna u l-Gżejjer ta’ Madwarha | Link | Link | Link |
L-Għar tal-lburdan u l-Inħawi tal-Madwar | Link | Link | Link |
L-Inħawi ta’ Pembroke | Link | Link | Link |
L-Inħawi tad-Dwejra u tal-Qawra/Rdumijiet ta’ Għawdex: Il-Ponta ta’ Ħarrux sal-Bajja tax-Xlendi/Rdumijiet ta’Għawdex: Il-Ponta ta San Dimitri sal-Ponta ta Ħarrux | Link | Link | Link |
L-Inħawi tal-Buskett u tal-Girgenti | Link | Link | Link |
L-Inħawi tal-Għadira | Link | Link | Link |
L-Inħawi tal-Imġiebaħ u tal-Miġnuna | Link | Link | Link |
L-Inħawi tar-Ramla | Link | Link | Link |
L-Inħawi tar-Ramla tat-Torri u tal-Irdum tal-Madonna | Link | Link | Link |
L-Inħawi tax-Xlendi u tal-Wied tal-Kantra/Rdumijiet ta’ Għawdex: Id-Dawra tas-Sanap sa tal-Ħajt | Link | Link | Link |
Rdumijiet ta’ Malta: Għajn Tuffieħa | Link | Link | Link |
Rdumijiet ta’ Malta: Ir-Ramla ta’ Għajn Tuffieħa sax-Xaqqa | Link | Link | Link |
Rdumijiet ta’ Malta: Mir-Ramla taċ-Ċirkewwa sar-Ramla tal-Mixquqa | Link | Link | Link |
Rdumijiet ta’ Malta: Mix-Xaqqa sal-Ponta ta’ Bengħisa | Link | Link | Link |
Rdumijiet u L-Inħawi ta’ Ta’ Ċenċ | Link | Link | Link |
Wied il-Miżieb | Link | Link | Link |