RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2014-2020 (LEADER) LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR GOZO AND COMINO(as updated on the 30th April 2020) THIS IS A DIGITAL COPY OF THE REPORT. RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT – KEEP IT DIGITAL i CONTENTS Contents LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR GOZO AND COMINO ......................... 1 1. DEFINITION OF THE TERRITORY AND OF THE POPULATION .. 1 1.1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 1.2. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AREA ............................................... 1 1.3. LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS ......................................................... 4 2. ANALYSIS OF THE TERRITORY .......................................... 10 2.1. THE ECONOMY .............................................................................. 10 2.2. DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS ....................................... 22 2.3. LAND COVER ................................................................................. 25 2.4. TENURE ........................................................................................ 26 2.5. SIZE AND STANDARD OUTPUT OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS................ 29 2.6. LIVESTOCK .................................................................................... 31 2.7. FISHERIES ..................................................................................... 34 2.8. FRESHWATER................................................................................. 34 2.9. BIODIVERSITY ................................................................................ 39 2.10. PROTECTED AREAS ......................................................................... 39 2.11. LANDSCAPE .................................................................................. 40 2.12. CULTURAL HERITAGE ..................................................................... 40 2.13. WIDER RELEVANT RESEARCH AND EVALUATION ................................. 45 2.14. REPORT OF THE STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION .................................. 55 2.15. SWOT ANALYSIS .............................................................................. 65 2.16. REGIONAL NEEDS ............................................................................ 71 3. DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STRATEGY .......... 73 3.1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 73 3.2. GENERAL NOTES ON ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS AND APPLICATIONS AND SELECTION CRITERIA .............................................................................. 99 3.3. TRANSNATIONAL/ INTER-TERRITORIAL COOPERATION PROJECTS ............ 100 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS FOR ENGAGEMENT IN LDS PREPARATION AND IMPLEMENTATION .......................... 102 4.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 102 4.2. STAKEHOLDERS ............................................................................. 102 4.3. STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION PROGRAMME....................................... 105 5. TRANSPOSING NEEDS AND OBJECTIVES INTO PROJECTS . 109 5.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 109 5.2. PRINCIPAL CRITERIA USED IN ACTION IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION 110 iii 5.3. THE RATIONALE FOR THE ACTIONS SELECTED IN THE STRATEGY ......... 111 5.4. RATIONALE BEHIND BUDGETARY ALLOCATION ACROSS ACTIONS .......... 120 5.5. THE ELEMENT OF RISK .................................................................... 120 5.6. CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 121 6. IMMPLEMENTATION PLAN ....................................................... 122 6.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 122 6.2. MANAGEMENT ............................................................................... 124 6.3. MONITORING & EVALUATION ........................................................... 126 6.4. COMMUNICATION PLAN .................................................................. 128 6.5. FINANCIAL ALLOCATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ....................... 131 7. FINANCIAL PLAN .................................................................. 133 8. SET OF THE LOCAL ACTION GROUP .......................................... 135 8.1. BACKGROUND ............................................................................. 135 8.2. ORGANISATIONAL DETAILS ........................................................... 135 8.3. PRIMARY CONTACT ...................................................................... 135 8.4. LEGAL DESCRIPTION ..................................................................... 135 8.5. LAG COMPOSITION AND DECISION MAKING ...................................... 136 8.6. STAFFING .................................................................................... 137 8.7. LAG EXPERIENCE ......................................................................... 138 9. IMPLEMENTATION CAPACITY ................................................... 139 FIGURES Figure 1.1: Gozo settlements and local councils .................................................. 3 Figure 1.2: Natura 2000 Sites in Gozo ......................................................... 9 Figure 2.1: Share of Gozo GDP within national total ..................................... 10 Figure 2.2: Growth rate in GDP ............................................................. 11 Figure 2.3: Gross Value Added composition: Gozo (2014) ............................... 12 iv Figure 2.4: Gross Value Added composition: Malta (2014) ..................................... 13 Figure 2.5: Unemployment Rate .................................................................. 14 Figure 2.6: Employment in Agriculture and Fisheries by type of employment ................ 16 Figure 2.7: Productivity levels in Gozo in relation to Malta (2014) ............................ 17 Figure 2.8: Access and peripherality of the Gozitan economy ................................. 19 Figure 2.9: Dependency ratio and old-age dependency ratio .................................. 21 Figure 2.10: Land cover of Gozo & Comino .................................................. 27 Figure 2.11: Land of Agricultural Value on Gozo & Comino ................................. 28 Figure 2.12: Agricultural land by holdings’ size in Gozo and Comino 2013 ................... 29 Figure 2.13: Gozo and Comino’s agricultural holdings by size class of standard output (€) .. 30 Figure 2.14: Volume of vegetables and fruits sold through official markets in tonnes ....... 30 Figure 2.15: Wholesale value of vegetables and fruits sold through official markets in euros 31 Figure 2.16: Area under forage (ha) by size class ................................................ 31 Figure 2.17: Distribution of forage (ha) by size class ............................................ 32 Figure 2.18: Area under citrus plantations (ha) by size class ................................... 32 Figure 2.19: Distribution of citrus plantations (ha) by size class ............................... 33 Figure 2.20: Geographical location of farms in Gozo ........................................... 34 Figure 2.21: Groundwater bodies ................................................................. 38 Figure 2.22: Environmental designations .............................................................. 42 Figure 2.23: Areas of High Landscape Sensitivity ................................................ 43 Figure 2.24: Cultural heritage designations ........................................................... 44 Figure 6.1: Application Process ...................................................................................123 Figure 6.2: Timeline of Monitoring and Evaluation ............................................. 127 TABLES Table 1.1: Criteria showing rural character of Gozo’s localities ................................. 4 Table 2.1: Sectoral distribution of Full-Time Equivalent jobs within regions in 2015 ........ 15 Table 2.2: Growth rate in sector productivity per worker in 2014 ...................... 18 Table 2.3: Population age structure in Gozo .............................................. 22 Table 2.4: Population age structure in Malta .............................................. 22 Table 2.5: University graduates ............................................................. 23 Table 2.5: SWOT analysis .................................................................... 66 Table 2.6: Gozo needs ........................................................................ 72 Table 3.1: The contribution of the strategy's objectives towards Gozo needs .......... 75 Table 3.2: Transnational Cooperation .................................................... 100 Table 4.1: Key Stakeholders ............................................................... 103 Table 4.2: Interviews / Meetings with Key Stakeholders .................................... 107 Table 6.1: Running and animation costs ................................................. 131 Table 7.1: Financial Allocation ............................................................ 134 Table 7.2: The percentage budget allocated ............................................ 134 v APPENDICES Appendix 1: Minutes of public consultation meetings Appendix 2: SWOT, Regional Needs, Malta Needs and the respective measures Appendix 3: Project selection criteria and sample application form Appendix 4: GAGF statute Appendix 5: GAGF Manager Job Description vi 1. DEFINITION