Friends of the Earth Malta (FoEM) staged a public action outside Parliament on Tuesday, transforming the area into a symbolic overcrowded Maltese beach to highlight what it described as growing pressures on the country's coastline.

The action, organised through the Save Our Shores campaign, featured beach towels, umbrellas and a pineapple stand referencing the overcrowding at the Blue Lagoon, alongside placards carrying messages including "Save Our Shores", "No to NoMa", "MSC pollute our sea" and "Protect our posidonia".

Participants raised concerns over the loss of public coastal space, pollution, overdevelopment and pressures linked to Malta's growing maritime and tourism industries.

The action follows a year of work by Save Our Shores with coastal communities across Malta and Gozo. Through community assemblies, research, exhibitions and public engagement, residents have raised concerns about the pressures affecting their coastlines and contributed to the campaign's political demands. FoEM previously launched the campaign's petition in June, calling for greater protection of public access to Malta's coast and sea, protection from pollution and restoration of natural ecosystems.

FoEM said the Save Our Shores petition has now collected more than 1,000 signatures and will be presented to Parliament in the coming weeks. The petition remains open for a few more days.

The campaign's first demand is for greater protection of public access to Malta's coast and sea. This includes the full implementation of the 2016 Public Domain Act, preventing further privatisation, establishing transparent enforcement structures to address illegal encroachments and creating formal consultation mechanisms with harbour and coastal communities.

The second demand concerns pollution from maritime activities. FoEM is calling for transparent, publicly accessible data on air, noise and marine pollution, as well as a national roadmap to connect all cruise liners to shore-to-ship power by 2030. It is also calling for stricter enforcement of Mediterranean sulphur emissions rules and equivalent controls on nitrogen emissions.

The third demand is for the designation, restoration and rewilding of coastal and marine ecosystems. This includes preserving undeveloped coastal areas, expanding protected areas and introducing management plans to limit the number of boats and reduce noise and light pollution.

The campaign has also documented the impact of Malta's maritime industries through research by journalist Julian Delia and photography by Darrin Zammit Lupi.

FoEM said the petition is intended to ensure Malta's coast and sea are protected "for the common good, not the wealthy few".