If I could sum up what Malta lacks the most in one word, it would be sustainability. The term is usually associated with issues only concerning the environment but sustainable thinking doesn’t just benefit the natural world; it also has positive economic and social implications.

This lack of sustainability is an increasing problem on several fronts for our country and has attracted international attention, culminating in concern as the surveys continue to flood in, adding additional proof of how bad the situation truly is. While it infuriates us to see our terrible ranking on such listings, it’s sadly become old news. Our disappointment in ourselves and the running of our country has become so deeply rooted that it leaves most feeling helpless and passive in the face of current issues.

A survey released by a Zürich-based reinsurance company compares the possible impacts of biodiversity declines on the economies of different countries. To analyse this relationship, they use the Biodiversity and Ecosystems (BES) index that itself is based on 10 ecosystem services including water quality, air quality and climate, soil fertility etc, all factors healthy societies unquestionably depend on.

By just reading the factors considered in this index, we can already imagine that Malta’s ranking won’t be too good but, within this survey, we are by far one of the worst. In the category ‘Share of fragile ecosystems’, Malta conquers all with a value of 100 per cent, meaning that our country is one fragile ecosystem, collapsing at an alarming rate. Malta also ranks among the top 10 countries with the lowest GDP dependency on BES, which can be understood as an indication that ecosystem collapse may not have as much of an immense effect on our economy as it will on others. The reality is, of course, quite the opposite. 

In a nutshell, biodiversity is a measurement of the number, variety and variability of genes, individuals or species that form part of a community within a given area. A decline in biodiversity is the decline of any of the mentioned constituents within the natural environment, depending on the size and type of community you’re looking at. Generally speaking, the more diverse the system, the higher its resilience. Communities that enjoy a high level of heterogeneity are more likely to survive destructive events while it often takes a few changes to cause more uniformly constituted systems to collapse. 

Of course, declines in biodiversity may also occur through natural disasters, such as floods or earthquakes, and most ecosystems are well equipped to gradually recover from such events. Chronic pressures, like those imposed by humanity, however, cause these systems to consistently change until they reach a tipping point.

Now, this is where it gets tricky; measuring the implications of arriving at these thresholds isn’t easy since ecosystems are extremely complex networks. This often means that ecologists struggle to somehow make the severity of the situation somewhat explicable to the public, especially when the relationship between the natural environment and a country’s economy is well concealed beneath its idea of progress. 

Ecosystem collapse will have devastating consequences on primary production sectors like farming and fishing, making us more dependent on imported or mass-produced goods. Vegetables grown on Maltese soil will experience longer drought periods leaving farmers fighting to grow whatever’s possible on infertile and contaminated soil.

Our natural environment is part of our heritage- David Thake

Fisherman will watch their stocks continue to decrease before they eventually simply vanish. Anybody that enjoys walks in what’s left of our countryside will gradually watch the last green and natural areas slowly deteriorate. As suppressed local flora and fauna begin to retreat, invasive species will advance, changing and, in many cases, plaguing both marine and terrestrial habitats. 

The above-mentioned consequences will likely make sense to the average Maltese, who has watched the island change rapidly in the last decade and is currently concerned about what natural heritage will be left for his/her children. The BES study, however, also highlights the issue from the business perspective and what bad environmental management could mean for long-term investors targeting Malta for new projects.

Amid all the negativity, another fact is that we can still turn this around, but we must do so quickly. The transition to becoming a country that manages its natural environment more efficiently and adopts sustainable strategies within its economy won’t be easy but it is, by all means, a realistic ambition. Malta is home to several able biologists and conservationists who could help implement useful tools and facilitate the smart management of natural spaces on our island.

Increasing funds in the research dedicated to maintaining these areas as well as to supplying them with adequate monitoring will not only improve biodiversity in these areas, making them and their surrounding environments more resilient. They will also help provide more green retreats for locals, aid in expanding the ecotourism market and enable smarter and more sustainable harvesting through fishing or farming. 

Showing more diligence in protecting our environment will set a real example for younger generations, especially children, who will no longer wonder why our country is doing so little to counter the environmental issues they hear about in school.

Looking after our environment will create a positive feedback loop where protecting and respecting it will simultaneously improve how we depend on it and that’s a better deal than the current misplaced perception of growth. Since our independence, our country has chosen an identity that is often self-destructive and we have come to assume that our attitude towards the environment is simply a symptom of this.

Yet, our natural environment is so much more than that; it’s a part of our heritage, it’s vital for our well-being and our health. It’s a reflection of how much we respect each other and of how important the well-being of future generations is to us.

Perhaps finding solidarity in at least one of the many issues that concern us as a country is something we all depend on and share. It might also create a much-needed sense of unity among us Maltese and, then, together we can look towards a brighter (and greener) future.

David Thake is Nationalist Party spokesperson on the environment.