Ta' Cenc cliffs scheduled by Mepa

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has scheduled the coastal cliffs at Ta' Cenc and identified the site as an Important Bird Area of EU importance.

The scheduling provides a high level of protection to this habitat.

Mepa said the site includes the surroundings of Tal-Debda and Ta' Cenc (Sannat) up to the area of Ta' l-Ikbiex, along the southern coast of Gozo.

Reaching a maximum height of 137.5 metres, the coastal cliffs provide an ideal nesting place for seabirds in its caves, crevices and fissures.

The area, which qualifies as a Level 1 site of Scientific Importance, harbours a concentration of threatened bird species that include Cory's shearwater, Yelkouan shearwater and the European storm petrel.

These seabirds visit land during the breeding season; breeding for Cory's shearwaters is between March and October; for the Yelkouan shearwater from October till July and for the European storm petrel from February till October. This makes the cliffs host to these seabirds throughout most of the year.

These birds lay eggs and raise their chicks on narrow ledges in deep burrows and in crevices in cliff faces. During the breeding season, adults feed out at sea during the day and return to the shoreline during the night.

The sea cliffs support the largest breeding colony of Cory's shearwater (800 - 1,000 pairs) in the Maltese Islands, about 150 - 300 pairs of Yelkouan shearwater and fewer than 25 pairs of the European storm petrel.

The latter species was recently discovered at Ta' Cenc as it was thought to be restricted to the islet of Filfla. Ta' Cenc cliffs constitute the only mainland breeding site for the European storm petrel, Mepa noted. The barn owl used to breed there in the 1970s.

The cliffs still offer an ideal habitat for the nesting of these birds.