Beach management : a comparative study in addressing beach pollution in Malta

Abstract

But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.- Rachel Carson. The scope of my project is to identify the different types of pollution found on busy beaches and investigate whether these beaches are managed, and if so, how this is being carried out. With such diverse demands, it is impossible for beaches to fulfil the needs of all interested parties. Beaches, like many other threatened environments (such as coastal wetlands), require adaptive management approach that can be adjusted to changing human and environmental needs. (Williams and Micallef, 2009:xx-xxi) How we treat the environment will eventually have a large impact on the economy, on present society and, most acutely, on the interests of generations to come. If we treat the environment well then we are allowing all these consequential aspects to flourish, whereas if we treat it badly we are likely to see such interests perish. Treating beaches well, is one step towards sustainability. Finding the perfect balance between using the Earth's resources and sustaining the environment is crucial. When this does not happen, severe disaster often strikes. The beaches in Malta are a vital organ of the tourism industry. In managing the coast responsibly, including managing beaches, the results are beneficial for all affected parties. Human interventions and impacts affect the health of beach ecosystems. Interestingly, beach management is required because of human interventions that may be wanton or well intentioned. To put it bluntly, beaches the world over are being loved to death by increasing human use and burgeoning demands for competeing uses, many of which are antithetical. As such, beaches are battlegrounds where wars are fought between environmentalists, special interest groups, governments, NGOs, private secotrs, and even the military (for bases, securitization of buffer zones, landing sites). (Williams and Micallef, 2009:xx-xxi) The methods and procedures included in this research involved first and second hand data, as well as qualitative and quantitative research methods. This all involved hours of library research, collecting data regarding the pollution found at various beaches, plotting such data on maps and pie charts, and interviewing people involved in beach management. As a result of completing the above procedure, it is safe to say that although pollution is evident at all the beaches investigated, it does not yet constitute an alarming threat. Beach management is crucial and there exists a large discrepancy between the state of those beaches which are managed and those which are not. The implications of my findings largely suggest that beaches which achieved the Blue Flag and the beach ran by the GAIA Foundation constitute the top cleanest beaches, whereas the beaches that are not managed are dirty and unattractive. The measures which distinguish the top cleanest beaches from the dirty, unattractive ones are simple and easily attainable, therefore this work aims to highlight such measures and encourage their implementation.