Camping at Ramla Bay in Gozo has caused a stir among environmentalists on the social media, with the Gaia Foundation defending itself against accusations that, as managers of the site, it should be doing much more.
The first to start off was Professor Alan Deidun, who uploaded a few photos on his page showing tents affixed to the ground and waste on the sandy beach.
He accompanied this with a comment about “super-loud music from the umpteenth party or 'music festival', camping right up to the sides of the sand dune and watercourse, parking up the clay slopes, plastic litter all over the beach, despite the bins, music till 2am (as per stipulated 'rules').......endless ways to make money and to ruin the peace and tranquillity of those seeking a quiet afternoon at the bay with the family.....seems the place is running itself with very little sign of authority.....and let’s not even speak about the ecological damage being done (huh...ecology....what's that?) - I wonder what Gaia, the NGO who manages the site, has to say about all this......”
Rudolf Ragonesi, on behalf of the Gaia Foundation, was quick to reply, saying that “the event took place on privately occupied land, NOT on the ecological site managed by Gaia. It took place on land used as agricultural land throughout the year and then as a parking lot, covered by relative permits, in the summer months. The protected site remained totally intact since it did not host the event. The statement "...by the NGO who manages the site" is therefore misleading, since it fell outside the managed site.”
Prof Deidun replied again, saying that Gaia could not distance itself from the fact that the holistic conservation of the site should be taken care of. “Can’t Gaia lobby for the holistic conservation of the site... some of the impacts of such a high concentration of tents, literally a few metres away from the watercourse leading to the protected dunes, will spill over in the site you are managing? I am sure you appreciate the fact that you can’t manage a site in isolation, without looking at issues like connectivity with adjacent areas....is also anyone looking at the impact of the dust being kicked up by the hundreds of cars hoarded within the unsightly parking area? Clay slopes, even though they are farmed during winter, should never host parking areas in view of the fine nature of their sediment”.
Mr Ragonesi replied again, saying that "in fact we take a holistic approach to all our work, most especially conservation work. A holistic approach includes factoring in sustainable human activities. We are not aware that there has been any spill over effect from the tents outside the conservation area into the area. Of course if there is we would be the first to take action to prevent it in any future activities. In fact we were not prepared to consider having the event take place within the conservation area itself. If you are aware of any specifics related thereto, feel free to communicate them to us with details and we would act to check from our end and take remedial action re latest event and preventive action for future events. With regards to the fields used for parking, in an ideal world we would have far fewer cars and also a smaller population on our islands that would automatically have a lesser impact on our beaches. Ramla is Gozo's most popular beach, and if it were not served with adequate parking facilities, it would be tantamount to denying Gozitans, Maltese and tourists access to this beach. Having said that we had insisted on the occupiers of the land planting a large number of tamarisk trees around the borders of the fields in order to minimise erosion and dust and counter the effects of temporary parking facilities in the fields with landscaping."