On Tuesday, Friends of the Earth Malta (FoEM) and its Save Our Shores project brought the concerns of Malta’s coastal communities directly to Parliament, with a public action highlighting the growing pressures on the country’s coastline.

The action transformed the public space outside Parliament into a symbolic, overcrowded Maltese beach, with beach towels, sun umbrellas, and even a pineapple stand criticising the craze at Blue Lagoon, as well as placards representing the increasingly limited and contested space available to the public.

Participants highlighted the issues including the loss of public coastal space, pollution, overdevelopment, and other pressures created by Malta’s growing maritime and tourism industries. Messages including “Save Our Shores, No to NoMa, MSC pollute our sea and Protect our posidonia” could be seen during the action.

FoEM explained that the action follows a year of work by Save Our Shores with coastal communities across Malta and Gozo. Through community assemblies, research, exhibitions, and public engagement, residents have shared their concerns about the pressures affecting their coastlines and helped shape the campaign’s political demands.

During the last months, Friends of the Earth Malta said that it has been working to promote an inclusive and wide public participation by collecting signatures to the Save Our Shores petition, which will be delivered in the following weeks to the Parliament, and already counts over a thousand signatures.

The petition calls for action to protect Malta’s coast and sea for the common good, not the wealthy few, and sets out three main demands developed with the coastal communities:

Protect public access to Malta’s coast and sea, by fully implementing the 2016 Public Domain Act, ensuring that public access is secured, further privatisation is prevented, transparent enforcement structures are set up to tackle illegal encroachments, and formal consultation mechanisms are established with harbour and coastal communities.

Publish transparent, publicly accessible data on air, noise, and marine pollution from harbour and maritime activities.

Develop a clear and actioned national roadmap to connect all cruise liners to shore-to-ship power by 2030, establish strict enforcement of the Mediterranean sulphur emissions rules, advocate for equivalent nitrogen controls, and set up strict rules to prevent pollution from maritime sectors to protect coastal ecosystems.

Designate, restore and rewild coastal and marine ecosystems, recognising their important role for biodiversity and ecological and climate resilience.

Preserve undeveloped coastal areas, expand protected area networks, and implement strict management plans that limit the number of boats, as well as noise and light.

The campaign has also documented the impacts of Malta’s maritime industries through research by journalist Julian Delia and photography by Darrin Zammit Lupi.

FoEM said that the Save Our Shores petition is open for a few more days for people who want to support these demands, before these are handed over to decision makers

Sign the Save Our Shores petition: https://saveourshores.eu/

Photo: Friends of the Earth Malta

Permalink: Save Our Shores brings Malta’s coastal crisis to Parliament through a direct action