As part of its efforts to continue to raise awareness about our Island’s rich biodiversity and the vital role it plays in our every living, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA), over the past weekend set up an educational information stand in three different prominent places in Malta and Gozo.

Through this stand, MEPA officers disseminated biodiversity information and also interacted with the public and gave details about the projects and initiatives that are currently on going to further improve our natural heritage and biodiversity.

Maria Spiteri, a member of the co-ordination team said, “The positive response we received from the public was very encouraging. Over these past few years we have seen a considerable increase in the public’s interest to know more about biodiversity and the issues that both positively and negatively effect it.”

Some of the ongoing projects include the Life + Migrate project and the Life+ Bahar project. The €1 million Life+ Project Migrate is evaluating the status of the population of the loggerhead turtle and the bottlenose dolphin in Maltese waters; while the €2.6 million Life+ Bahar project is collating data on the location, range and conservation status of marine habitats, primarily sandbanks, reefs, and submerged or partially submerged sea caves between the Maltese coast and up to the Fisheries Management Zone (FMZ) boundary (25 nautical miles from the coast), reaching depths of 1000 metres below sea level.

Over the weekend the educational biodiversity stand featured at the Duke Shopping Mall, Gozo on Friday afternoon, The Point in Sliema on Saturday morning and The Malta National Aquarium on Sunday morning.

A popular aspect of the stand was the free face painting for children. While make-up artists drew different face painted species, they also shared with the children important facts they should know about the species.

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