People believe the Church contributes more towards the protection of the environment than the planning authority, which is supposed to be its guardian, according to a survey.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority's Public Attitudes Survey shows 29 per cent people have more faith in the Church to give a positive contribution to the environment than Mepa itself (26 per cent). As many as 28 per cent don't think the authority actually makes any difference.
Those who viewed the private sector's contribution to environmental protection as positive amounted to 23 per cent, the same percentage as those who considered that the sector had a negative impact.
The survey was carried out in 2008 and involved interviewing 1,024 persons on their attitude towards the environment.
Topping the list of their concerns were air quality at 70 per cent, waste at 54 per cent and land use issues (27 per cent).
Surprisingly, only 55 per cent believed air quality in their locality affected their health.
That said, a large majority (89 per cent) agreed car use should be restricted in case of air quality issues and slightly fewer (85 per cent) would be ready to accept stricter vehicle tests for air quality purposes.
Meanwhile, the majority of Maltese (74) said they were prepared to pay "a little more" for energy generated from renewable sources, backed up by 84 per cent who believed climate change was affecting the island.
However, this report was carried out in 2008, well before the latest water and electricity tariffs' increase came into force on January 1, so it is not known if they would take the same attitude in the face of higher bills.
"The results coming out of this survey aren't outdated; it addresses the problems people perceive in the Maltese environment," Mepa chairman Austin Walker said, adding the survey showed environment and air quality were perceived to be as important as the economy, if not more.
"Regarding environmental issues, most people think it's important to improve air quality and we have to find a way for the country to invest more and put more resources into tackling this problem," Mr Walker said.
The report took the environment as a whole, rather than just focused on little creatures such as lizards and birds, and this included the built environment.
Eighty-four per cent thought Malta was too built up and just over than half disagreed new buildings should be higher. Most respondents also disagreed Gozo should be developed further.
Eleven per cent of respondents thought Valletta and Buskett should be protected from development, with Mdina coming close at 10 per cent. Sliema also figured towards the top in the list, with eight per cent saying the locality should be protected.
A large majority of respondents agreed with having more footpaths and cycling routes in the countryside, with two-thirds believing there were not enough places of recreation.