The government is investing €60,000 into the Għadira and the Simar nature reserves, both managed by Birdlife Malta.
These two Natura 2000 sites, which are also bird sanctuaries, are classified as Special Zones of Conservation and Special Protection Areas.
Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia said the additional funds will improve the livelihood and propagation of protected species, including the Mediterranean Killfish, the Maltese Painted Frog, and protected birds that visit the reserves.
The government committed itself to improve the state of the nature reserves in an agreement it signed together with the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) and Birdlife on Monday.
The agreement will see the creation of a research laboratory in Simar, the use of new products and machinery for tree-planting, the installation of security cameras and the construction of new sanitary facilities at the Għadira site.
“The purpose of these interventions being carried out around Natura 2000 sites is to protect our natural environment, ensuring the sites are kept in a good state to be enjoyed in the most sustainable way by everyone, creating a balance between the use of these sites and their conservation.
"With these initiatives, we want to emphasise the importance of protecting the environment around us, but also ensuring that human activity does not negatively impact the quality of our biodiversity,” Minister Farrugia said.
Addressing the same press conference, Birdlife's CEO Mark Sultana promised that the NGO will continue working towards protecting the environment and criticise those who do not, no matter who is in government.
"To be honest with you, after what happened some weeks ago, when the government handed over Miżieb and Aħrax to 300 hunters, I was not sure that this activity should still be held.
"However I realised this would be a good opportunity to reiterate what I have been saying over the past weeks," he said.
Sultana noted that the work that went into the sites managed by Birdlife and the funds it received were all invested for the benefit of the common good and were enjoyed by the public and not its members only.
Everything in the reserves remained alive, and none of the NGO's members could kill an animal or a bird, or pluck a flower, he said.
Birdlife and other NGOs who work in favour of the common good can never be compared to those whose ultimate interest is to kill birds, Sultana added.