Environmental activism in the Maltese context : the case of Nature Trust

Abstract

The Maltese government in the 1960s was already tackling environmental issues in international bodies (Mallia 1994; 685). However the government's environmental concerns were not turned homewards and it was thought that due to Malta's size it played an irrelevant role in global environmental preservation. However the local situation was not rosy. Land use together with population numbers increased at a disproportional rate. From 1957 to 1985 the number of households increased 40% for a 10% increase in population (Ibid; 690). Development and waste disposal are problems that increasingly threaten this overcrowded island. Mallia, Boissevain and Theuma all agree that globally as well as locally, it was the pressure of the environmental NGOs that sensitised and pressured governments and institutions responsible for the regulation of environmental exploitation into environmental action (Mallia 1994; 686, Boissevain& Theuma 1998; 98). One of the NGOs that formed the Nature Trust merger in 1999, NHSM was set up in 1972 and formed part of the sensitisation of the Maltese public. I intend to explore a local environmental NGO: Nature Trust, and try to explain their beliefs and activity in the light of the continuous negotiation with the other groups that constitute Maltese society. From now on I refer to the core members of Nature Trust (NT) as 'the core'. 'I shall use the abbreviation 'NT' to refer to what the core transmits as an imagined entity with a distinct image and set of values, perceived to transcend the individual council members.