Maltese waters granted protection

A spokesperson for the Office of the Prime Minister confirmed Malta’s participation in a Mediterranean Action Plan meeting held in Istanbul last July in which 12 marine zones in the Mediterranean were identified ‘priority conservation areas’.

But the government spokesperson was mum when asked whether this designation has any impact on Malta’s oil exploration activities in the region.

Insisting that the “proposal” is still being assessed, the government spokesperson failed to mention any concrete initiative being taken by Malta to protect these important ecological habitats.

According to UNEP the Northern Strait of Sicily, which occupies the channel between Malta, Pantelleria and Sicily as well as waters to the south of Malta, contains critical sea bird and cetacean habitats, deep sea corals, seamounts, and very shallow offshore banks.  This area is deemed to satisfy all the criteria which make it eligible for protection; uniqueness, vulnerability, importance for threatened species and life history.

According to the World Wildlife Fund this area hosts a wide variety of marine flora and fauna and is a very important feeding ground for many protected species, including the fin whale (Balaeonoptera physalus), which is endangered worldwide. Only around 3,500 fin whales are left in the Mediterranean.

The WWF has repeatedly called on the governments of Italy, Malta and Tunisia to declare this area as a marine sanctuary.

An official spokesperson of the Italian embassy in Malta confirmed with MaltaToday that  the possibility of an agreement between Malta and Italy on the protection of the Canale di Sicilia was discussed with the Maltese government during the visit of the former Italian Minister Pecoraro Scanio in Malta, in June 2007.

However according to the Italian embassy the formal agreement between Malta, Italy and Tunisa “was not finalized by the three countries and therefore never signed.”

The presumed agreement between the three Mediterranean neighbours has been invoked by environmental NGOs protesting against concessions granted by the Italian government for oil drilling along the Sicilian coast.

Following the meeting in Istanbul UNEP has contacted the authorities of the countries responsible for each site to initiate the process of creatingSpecially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Interest (SPAMI) within these 12 zones.

SPAMIs have to be administered by a management body with sufficient powers, means and human resources to prevent or control activities likely to be contrary to the aims of the protected area, asforeseen by the protocols of the Barcelona convention of 1976.

But the decision to include an area in the SPAMI List has to be taken by consensus by all the contracting parties of the convention during their periodic meetings.

The protection and management measures applying in the SPAMI are also prescribed by the states proposing them but all parties are to comply with such measures.

While Malta is still assessing the proposal Countries like Spain, France and Slovenia have taken steps to protect other zones which have been given the same status by UNEP. Spain and France have already agreed to set up a SPAMI in the gulf of Lyons-one of the 12 sites identified in July.