Nature Trust (Malta) urges the Minister of Finance to allocate a budget for the management and protection of ecological sites and Natura 2000 sites in the Maltese Islands.

For the last six years the NGO has been calling on Government to allocate funds towards nature conservation and law enforcement.

While the NGO acknowledges the fact that government has over the last years voted funds towards waste issues and provided some incentives for renewable energy, yet budget allocation for the conservation of Natura 2000 sites and sites of ecological importance have been given a very low priority. As an EU member state, Malta is today bound to protect such sites not only to fulfil its EU obligations but also for Maltese citizens to enjoy.

Currently, it is very clear that environmental law enforcement is next to non-existent. The ALE Unit remains chronically understaffed, while the enforcement efforts of authorities such as MEPA are clearly very poor compared to what is needed. The NGO urges the government to beef up the ALE and give it full executive powers so as to be able to effect proper environmental law enforcement and not merely token actions.

Furthermore, in a scenario of over 30 local sites designated as Natura 2000 sites but only a very few terrestrial sites managed by NGOs actually having a management plan to regulate their protection and operation, it is high time that government shrugs off its inertia, and demonstrates in practice its long-touted commitment to our natural heritage by drawing up plans for the management of such sites while at the same time bolstering such plans of action with the creation of green jobs aimed at site conservation and protection. Some sites would actually need park rangers and a site manager

Finally the NGO would also like to see more incentives towards renewable energy backed up by a national educational campaign to encourage more citizens to benefit from such incentives, which in the final analysis will offer a much-needed benefit to our lifestyle and health.

Permalink: Nature Trust proposals for the Budget 2010