L-Inhawi tad-Dwejra u tal-Qawra, inkluz Hagret il-General includes coastal cliffs, valleys, a freshwater pool known as il-Qattara, and was once home to the famous Azure Window.
However, did you know that the Environment and Resources Authority has an ongoing public consultation related to the Conservation Objectives and Measures for this site and five others in Gozo.
There will be a public meeting in Gozo on Friday with full information on the objectives and measures, details are shown below.
These six sites in Gozo are:
L-Inhawi ta’ Ghajn Barrani
L-Inhawi tar-Ramla
L-Inhawi tad-Dwejra u tal-Qawra, inkluz Hagret il-General
L-Inhawi tax-Xlendi u tal-Wied tal-Kantra
Il-Qortin tal-Magun u l-Qortin il-Kbir
L-Inhawi ta’ Ta’ Cenc
The ERA said that Natura 2000 sites need to be subject to management processes aimed at improving or maximising the contribution of the sites to the maintenance or achievement of Favourable Conservation Status (FCS) of the habitats and species listed in the EU Habitats Directive and the protection of seabirds in accordance with the EU Birds Directive.
It explained that For this purpose, ‘conservation objectives’ are set to guide management processes and enable measurement of progress and ‘conservation measures’ are elaborated to achieve the set objectives through their implementation. Criteria and indicators have been therefore included for assessing and monitoring the effectiveness of such a management approach.
Whenever required, operational objectives are elaborated to address knowledge gaps or provide more robust information, said the ERA.
Have your say and help protect our natural heritage. Therefore the public is invited to submit any feedback or comments on the second set of draft conservation objectives and measures addressing terrestrial Natura 2000 sites in Gozo.
Comments are being invited through the feedback form at publicconsultation.gov.mt [1] or otherwise by email through era.policy@era.org.mt [2] The closing date is the 25th of November.
The ERA advised that a hybrid stakeholder and public consultation session will be organised by ERA this coming Friday, the 31st of October, from 16:00 to 19:00 at the Xewkija Volunteer Centre (Il-Madonna tar-Rummiena Street, Xewkija, Gozo,), wherein the draft Conservation Measures and Objectives will be presented.
Attendance can be either online or in person. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session wherein stakeholders and members of the public may provide feedback.
Interested stakeholders and members of the public are invited to register for this meeting from the following link [3]. In view of space limitations, a first come first served policy will be adopted for physical attendance, the ERA said.
Documents:
Conservation Measures and Objectives for Malta’s Terrestrial Natura 2000 Sites – Set 2 (Gozo) [4]
Report on comments submitted during Intent and Objectives stage [5]
File photo: Gozo News/Alain Salvary