Malta has its first eight marine Special Protection Areas (SPAs) within the Natura 2000 network which gives seabirds in Malta full protection on land and at sea. The announcement was made today during a conference to mark the end of the LIFE+ Malta Seabird project, which was managed by Birdlife Malta. This will enhance the conservation of all three of Malta's protected and declining seabird species, namely, Yelkouan Shearwaters (Garnija), Scopoli's Shearwaters (Ċiefa) and European Storm-petrels (Kanġu ta' Filfla). The Maltese Islands are home to 10 per cent of the global population of Yelkouan Shearwaters' (Puffinus yelkouan), three per cent of Scopoli's Shearwaters' (Calonectris diomedea diomedea) and 50 per cent of the Mediterranean subspecies of European Storm-petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis). Cabinet adopted the SPAs proposal in April, resulting in Malta having its first declared marine protected areas specifically for birds. Now that these sites have been designated as such, Malta will also be fulfilling its obligation of implementing the EU Birds Directive. The areas, which are within a perimeter of about 20 nautical miles around the Maltese Islands are the...
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