Din l-Art Helwa, the National Trust for Malta, has welcomed the ratification by Malta of the Council of Europe Landscape Convention, which came 25 years after it had been signed.

“It is still too early to see pragmatic implications the ratification with bring, however, it will clearly provide a strong tool for NGOs when it comes to fighting inappropriate developments,” said the chair of the NGO’s Heritage and Environment Protection subcommittee Alex Torpiano.

The Convention was drawn up in 2000 to highlight the importance of landscapes “in the cultural, ecological, environmental and social fields” as they contribute to the formation of local cultures and – by extension form an important component of “the European natural and cultural heritage, contributing to human well-being and consolidation of the European identity.”

After the Convention was signed, DLH, along with 16 other signatories, had issued a manifesto urging the government to take the final step of ratification. They had pointed out that the need to protect the landscape and the historical and artistic patrimony of the nation was specifically mentioned in the country’s Constitution.

DLH said that “it was already clear at the time that the manifesto was written all those years ago that the islands were heading in the wrong direction when it came to development”

The NGO highlighted that “…Planning systems have been engineered to favour speculation rather than the more fundamental needs of society,” and expressed concern about “the ever-increasing incidence of permits granted for demolition of heritage buildings, without any regard given to their architectural significance, nor to the cultural and social considerations that are important to the community,”

DLH said that ,however, this ratification – for reasons not made clear – “slipped through the cracks and in the ensuing years, Malta’s landscape changed beyond recognition, forcing DLH and other NGOs to fight applications from the planning stage as far as the Courts.”

DLH concluded by saying that “the important thing now was that the government followed through on its commitments – Malta has already lost much of its landscape over the past decades, and the time is now ripe for a clear road-map – including enforcement – on how the remaining landscapes will be protected.”

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