Following the public call for the post of director of Compliance and Enforcement, the Board of the Environment and Resources Authority appointed Lieutenant Colonel Mario Schembri (ret'd) to occupy this post with immediate effect.

Lieutenant Colonel Schembri is specialised in enforcement and security matters. He carried out his academic and career training at local and international civil and military institutions.

In 1979 he began his career in enforcement as a Police officer and reached the rank of Police inspector a year later. In 1985 he moved to the Armed Forces of Malta where during his 27 years of service, he actively took part and led several enforcement operations at sea and on land. During his years at Maritime Squadron he was also actively involved in combatting oil pollution at sea. Among other duties, he represented the AFM before the Courts of Law and in media matters. He retired from the AFM in 2011 after being awarded the Long and Efficient Service Medal for the sterling service rendered.

As the main environment regulator, ERA protects the environment through various national and international laws and regulations. Bridging the gap between such legislation and practice is the end goal of compliance and enforcement actions and the main challenge for the new Compliance and Enforcement Directorate.

In his new function, the director shall be responsible for monitoring aspects that are regulated by ERA, promoting compliance with requirements and subsequently even resorting to enforcement where this becomes necessary.

The remit of the Compliance and Enforcement Directorate spans a number of environmental sectors, such as securing compliance with nature and biodiversity regulations, trade in endangered species and the monitoring of adherence with ERA environmental permits and conditions governing operational activities that have an impact on the environment.