It was indeed a great relief to read and hear that the minister for the environment has finally realised and accepted that “90 per cent of flowering plants depended directly on pollinator species to reproduce, including many fruit trees and crops” and “some 35 per cent of the world’s food and over half of human beings’ diet of fats and oils came from pollinated crops”. Very good, congratulations for such vision.
This has filled many environmentalists with high hopes and optimism, as much as a couple who see their child make the first step! Although the concept behind such a project is encouraging, its implementation, however, leaves much to be desired.
With the pro-business mentality, the seeds are going to be imported. The quantity of seeds needed are being brought from a foreign natural environment despite the fact that they are the same species. One would have thought that ERA is conscious of the fact that species imported from other countries, despite being of the same species as indigenous ones, are regarded as ‘invasives’, according to EU policy, especially in a small country like ours.
Unfortunately, the ERA board does not regard trees as part of the ecosystem, so it is not a surprise that it would be difficult to understand that such tiny seeds are a source of pollution to the gene pool of the local indigenous flora.
One can imagine that those who receive such seeds from the minister, and who are not in the least interested in sowing them, would throw them away in the first patch of soil they find!
Some might argue, naturally using their hearts and not their minds, that such an amount of seeds could not possibly be collected locally. This is a purely commercial reasoning, diametrically opposed to a professional ecological one.
A wise and willing environment politician could easily have issued a call for interest from locals to collect such seeds from the local stock. There are more than 100 individuals who can easily identify and handle the species which the minister is going to import, namely: sweet alyssum (buttuniera), red corn poppy (pepprin aħmar), chamomile (kamomilla) and borage (fidloqqom).
Unfortunately, the ERA board does not regard trees as part of the ecosystem- Alfred Baldacchino
The minister assures us that “various ecosystems and living things within them depend on the synergy between pollinators and flowering plants. Reduction in the population and collapse of pollinator populations would negatively impact the agricultural sector and, consequently, the global economy and essential food supplies”. So true, so ecologically correct.
Then why, one would ask, are herbicides being sprayed by the government’s ‘landscaper’ and many local councils in every country lane, centre strip and roundabout using public funds to destroy such wild species? And why is the destruction of biodiversity in Natura 2000 sites, like Buskett and now Comino, and trees like the ones at Dingli, which ERA condemned to destruction, allowed to ignore such a concept?
The prevention of the above biodiversity destruction would indeed be “an ambitious and long-term one (strategy) that would protect nature and reverse habitat loss through nationwide commitments, including action on pollinator species”. Could there be any commercial hurdles preventing the minister to apply his beliefs across the board?
With the help of Ambjent Malta in his portfolio, the minister can try to establish a strategy for the benefit of biodiversity and pollinators, as obliged by the EU. This can be implemented, for example, by ‘landscaping’ roundabouts with such species instead of expensive annuals. Imagine a roundabout planted with poppies. They are free, self-supporting and do not need any weeding, watering or management.
This strategy could and would have been a laudable EU biodiversity strategy for the period 2020 to 2030, if a more professional approach was taken into consideration. But, as always, commercial values come before ecological ones, naturally with a short-term benefit and a long-term negative ecological impact.
“Wild flowers provide food and shelter for pollinators, including bees, butterflies and moths. In return, pollinators collect and spread wild flower pollen from plant to plant allowing for the development of seeds,” the minster also correctly declared.
The yearly €8 million secret contract with the ELC is managed by a department in the minister’s portfolio. Where there is a will, there is a way but, unfortunately, there is no will at all. Any biodiversity project, first and foremost, seems to have to be linked with commercial profits!
Those who are honestly looking forward to professional conservation, protection and management of Maltese biodiversity for future generations cannot be blamed for thinking that this is more of a damage control exercise with commercial strings attached.
The message that households will get when they receive such seeds is how the number of wild indigenous species is being destroyed because of lack of conservation, management and professional management due to heavy commercial and political interests.