European and African seabird experts from 11 countries are discussing the designation of protected areas in the Mediterranean at an international seminar in Valletta which aims to establish criteria for the designation of protected areas at sea through seabird research.

The designation of Marine Special Protected Areas (SPAs) is an EU obligation under the Birds Directive. The deadline for member states to present proposed marine protected areas in their national waters to the European Commission was 2008. To date only Malta and one other EU member state have no marine SPAs for seabirds.

“Since insufficient scientific data is available for designation of marine SPAs in the immediate short-term, Malta commenced work in line with the approved EU Natura 2000 rolling plan, and is actively involved in the formulation of a ‘National Marine Protected Areas Strategy’, with the aim of setting up a plan to identify other marine protected areas in Malta, and notes that the results of the EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater project, expected next year, will most likely assist MEPA in this work,” said Darrin T. Stevens, manager within the Environment Protection Directorate at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The outcome of the international seminar will serve as an important tool for Mediterranean governments to initiate and support research into the identification of Marine Special Protection Areas.

During the opening speech at the international seminar, Joseph Mangion, BirdLife Malta president commented, “We are pleased to see that the Maltese government is taking this issue seriously and is willing to contribute to further research to help Malta achieve its EU obligations. Malta’s commitment to take the lead on seabird research in the Mediterranean will clearly put Malta on the map for international seabird research.”