Have your say on Malta’s plan to safeguard pollinators

by Gozo News · February 17, 2023

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) is inviting the public to have their say on the Intent and Objectives: Malta’s National Strategy and Action Plan for Pollinators to 2035.

The ERA explained that the main intent of the National Strategy and Action Plan for Pollinators to 2035 is to act as the national framework that drives and promotes the safeguarding of pollinator species and their services through a number of short and long-term actions.

On a national scale, while some efforts are in place, further initiatives may be necessary to ensure adequate diversity and abundance of pollinator species present in the Maltese Islands.

This requires the development and adoption of the essential responses for the protection, conservation and management of pollinators.

Globally, nearly 90% of wild flowering plant species depend on pollination to survive and thrive, and in turn such plants are proven to be critical for the continued functioning of ecosystems as they provide food, habitats and other resources.

Despite wild pollinators’ significant importance, these species are declining in occurrence, diversity and abundance worldwide, both at regional and local scales. In Europe, a decline is being experienced in northern countries, while southern ones lack the required data and action to detect if such a decline exists.

In the EU, at least one in ten bee and butterfly species are on the verge of extinction, while one third of them are in decline. Based on the current state of knowledge and monitoring activities in place, there remains a number of outstanding gaps which need further addressing.

The ERA said that this decline in pollinators and the provision of pollination is seemingly driven by direct drivers that include different land-use changes and management, environmental pollution, invasive alien species, pathogens and climate change. Nonetheless, explicitly linking pollinator declines to these direct drivers is limited by data availability.

For more information and to submit your feedback regarding this consultation please click here. The closing date to submit feedback is the 13th of March.