State of the Environment Report for Malta 1998 Submitted to the Environment Protection Department Through The Malta Council for Science and Technology Victor Axiak Edward Mallia Vincent Gauci Patrick J. Schembri Adrian Mallia Alfred J. Vella April 1999 CONTINUE DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER This STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT - 1998 is a comprehensive report about the local environment and has been commissioned by the ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION DEPARTMENT, through the MALTA COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (MCST). In their turn, the MCST commissioned a panel of independent experts who, in their individual capacity contributed on specific subject areas. The panel of experts was composed as follows:- Victor Axiak - The Coast and Frechwater Resources, Liquid Waste and Panel Co- ordinator) Vincent Gauci – Solid Waste, Environmental Policy and Education Adrian Mallia – Population, Tourism, Landuse and Non -renewable Resources Edward Mallia - Energy Patrick J. Schembri – Living Resources, Fisheries and Agriculture Alfred J. Vella – Air Quality Other experts contributed on particular sections of the report. This report is intended to be one of a series of such periodic reports which will enable the general public to evaluate the state of the environment in the Maltese Islands. Although the report was financed from public funds, the report does not necessarily reflect official views. Moreover, the Environment Protection Department is not responsible for any use or misuse of the information included in this report. The Environment Protection Department is the copyright holder of the publication. Everyone is encouraged to peruse, quote and copy material from this publication, provided that the publication and the individual author are duly acknowledged. The Environment Protection Department would appreciate receiving copies of all articles and publications where the State of the Environment Rep ort is referred to. V. Gauci A/Director Environment Protection Department BACK TO FRONT PAGE PREFACE All activities of Man have an impact on the local and global environment. It has become increasingly important to gauge these impacts, both because these impacts are becoming more and more significant and also because Man’s expectations have increased more than ever before in the last ten years. Moreover, the aspect of sustainability, that is whether what we are doing today to satisfy our needs will have an impact on future generations, has become an over- riding concern. It is therefore important that all decisions are taken with an informed mind. For this to be possible, there must be accurate and accessible information about the state of our environment. Indeed, in signing the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in December 1998, Malta has pledged amongst other things to keep the public informed about the state of the environment. This is precisely the scope of this report, which intends to be one of a series of regular snap-shots of the state of the local environment. Such reports will facilitate a co-ordinated response to be made and eventually will enable trends to be discerned. While the report shows that there is considerable work still to be done in the environmental field, it is nevertheless a milestone towards achieving sustainable development. The Hon. F. Zammit Dimech LLD, MP Minister for the Environment The Hon. F. Zammit Dimech Minister for the Environment 12th August, 1999 1. Introduction 2. Population, Tourism, Landuse & Non-Renewable Resources 3. Living Resources, Fisheries & Agriculture 4. The Coast & Freshwater Resources 5. Solid & Liquid Wastes 6. Energy, Transformation, Use & Environmental Impact 7. Air Quality 8. Environmental Policy and Education 9. Conclusion BACK TO START 1. INTRODUCTION Background and Past Initiatives Environmental issues are becoming so complex that very often the policy-maker is forced either into an approach of management by crises, or to deal with such issues in an ‘ad hoc’ manner. On the other hand it is self evident that corrective, or pro-active action in environmental protection and management may only be based on correct information about the state of the environment. The fact that very often much of the information may be lacking (as is the c ase in Malta) makes it even more important to present the limited information which may be available, directly to the policy maker in a format which is easily understood and upon which concrete action may be taken. Reporting on the state of the environment (SoE) was first developed in the early 1970s in USA, Japan and other countries. Since their inception, such SoE reports were always intended to present information to different audiences (ranging from policy makers, to the general public) in order to facilitate decision making ranging from setting environmental policies to voting choices. The adoption of Agenda 21 at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development served as an added impetus to the regular publication of such SoE report s in various countries. Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 specifically calls for improved environmental information for decision-making. In fact, a National Committee prepared a Malta’s National Report in 1992 as required by the UN of member states, which participated in the Rio Conference. This report was a significant attempt in the right direction, though it generally lacked the necessary technical level of information, which is usually found in such reports. In any case, as often happen, the 1992 Report was prepared solely to fulfil Malta’s obligation to the UN. It was a one-of initiative, and it had not been reviewed since then. In 1993, the Environment Protection Department commissioned (through EU LIFE funds) the consultancy firms OMI (Malta) Ltd., and Montgomery Watson to prepare an internal environmental audit for governmental bodies and a SoE. Such reports were concluded in 1994. More recently, in 1997 the Department of Health Policy and Planning with the co-operation of the Environment Protection Department prepared a National Environmental Health Action Plan for Malta. Though such an Action Plan had several elements of a SoE report, it was focused on environmental health and was more action oriented. In 1997, we also witnessed a non-governmental initiative in SoE reporting when a discussion paper entitled Towards Sustainable Europe, Sustainable Malta was published by Moviment ghall- Ambjent – Friends of the Earth. This discussion paper included synoptic reviews of various aspects of our environment. The Present Project In 1998, the Environment Protection Department recognized the need for a more coherent and regular programme of reporting on the SoE. Subsequently it commissioned the Malta Council for Science and Technology to prepare a SoE Report, which wo uld serve as a tool for environmental management. It would seek to translate a scientific assessment and evaluation of the current state of the environment into a format, which could be intelligently used by policy and decision-makers. It was also to include a non-technical synopsis addressed to the general public. This synopsis could serve as a useful tool in the current initiatives being undertaken for environmental education and sensitization programmes . The original objectives of this SoE Report were to: a) Review and validate the available information on environmental quality; b) Identify the desired national environmental quality objectives for air, water, soil, and sea; c) Identify the criteria and indices to be used to assess environmental quality of Malta and Gozo; d) Apply such criteria and indices to the to available data so as to assess the present state of quality of the environment, and to identify trends; e) Identify in order of priority, the corrective and pro -active action that needs to be taken in order to protect and enhance such quality. The actual compilation and preparation of this report was entrusted to a Panel of Experts including the following members: Prof. Victor Axiak (Co-ordinator) Mr. Vincent Gauci Mr Adrian Mallia Prof. Edward Mallia Prof. Patrick J. Schembri Prof. Alfred Vella. The Panel held a number of meetings and each panel member was assigned the responsibility of preparing one or more sections of the report. In turn, each panel member formed a team of collaborators who assisted in the identification and compilation of the data on specific themes. In the meantime, all governmental entities were officially requested by the Minister of responsible for the Environment to assist the Panel in such an initiative, by providing the requested information and data. Every member of the Panel contributed to the present initiative, in his personal capacity. Any views and opinions expressed in this report do not necessary represent the official views of any of the employers of the Panel members or of their collaborators. The responsibilities for the contents of the individual sections of this report lie solely with the respective Team Leaders. As the work progressed, it became evident that in order to produce a product of the required level and relevance, the Panel could only address its efforts to some of the stated objectives. This report therefore focuses on: a) reviewing the information available up till 1997; b) assessing the reliability of such information and data; c) assessing the present status and identify trends; d) make general recommendations and identify priorities. The first findings of the Panel were presented to the Minister for the Environment in a special seminar held on the 2nd March 1998. The present report represents the technical findings as addressed to our policy and decision-makers. It fulfils the objectives as revised above. It is being submitted to the Environment Protection Department through the Malta Council for Science and Technology. The Report includes a brief overview of the findings and recommendations on future SoE reporting for Malta, in its concluding section. We now await the Minister’s instructions on how to proceed with the Synoptic Report, which is to be addressed to the general public.