Legislation protecting the natural environment with special reference to Malta

Abstract

All forms of life, including man share the same origin. In attaining ‘consciousness’ man has put himself in a class of its own. Yet, in order to arrive to his present position man has continuously interacted with hist natural surroundings. Regrettably, man seems to ignore the fact that in many ways he is still dependent on his natural environment. He has overused his natural resources leaving undesirable effects both on their quantity and on their quality. Man’s pollution has affected land, sea and air. As Professor Konrad Lorenz, Nobel Prize winner pointed out, “Man must realize that his repeated onslaughts on the natural environment upset the fundamental mechanisms of evolution and risk causing the human race to disappear. If he wishes to survive, he must challenge his own ways of living and thinking, fundamentally change his behaviour towards our environment.” A nature conservation policy seems to an urgent requirement. There are various reasons for adopting such a policy. To start with, nature is worth protecting for economic reasons. For example, the seas still provide us with a valuable supply of food. As the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded last January, “We cannot use the seas as cesspools and at the same time expect them to remain habitats of life and a source of income for millions of people.” Ecological considerations are also very important. All species form part of a complex biological, chemical, and physical natural whole. The upsetting of a biological equilibrium can have undesirable effects, even on man. Another reason is that the enjoyment of natural surroundings is both psychologically and physically healthy for man. Town dwellers all over the world seek the countryside for their relaxation. Moreover, nature constitutes a source of beauty and intrigue to many people. The natural heritage is part of every nation’s wealth. What has been said so far must have already indicated a working definition of ‘natural environment’. The natural environment includes all of man’s and other species’ surroundings, living or non-living which are not man made. Though some would give a wider definition and include matters such as the preservation of monuments and the cleanliness of streets the above working definition is already wide enough as it is to rule out considering further areas in this limited space. Moreover as the title indicates, this dissertation is primarily concerned with the protection of the natural environment and not is exploitation. In this light legislation pertaining to fishing and agriculture do not come directly within the scope of this subject. Though it is by no means claimed that this dissertation will cover all aspects of the natural environment, an attempt has been made to cover as wide a range as possible. In this light the dissertation has been divided the following main chapters: • Fauna and Flora • The Marine Environment • The Land Environment and Air Pollution

Each of the above comprises three main parts. The first part describes the present legislative situation in Malta. The second looks into international conventions and the third is an evaluation in which suggestions for developing Malta’s legislation are made. Due to the enormous number of international conventions, it was necessary to be restrictive in selecting the ones presented here. The criteria for such selection was mainly their potential or actual relevance to Malta. [...]