The environment authority is investigating the dumping of mounds of earth at a nature reserve without the necessary permits.  

Large piles of soil and rubble were discovered in an area known as Rdum tal-Madonna at Aħrax in Mellieħa, a protected Natura 2000 site, a source at the Environment and Resources Authority told Times of Malta.

The necessary permits to deposit any material had not been obtained when the rubble was discovered.

“The activity brought about a change in the natural and physical characteristics of the area, so that’s why an ERA permit is mandatory,” the source said.

The police are investigating.

Hunters’ federation had not obtained permits

Questions sent to ERA  are still being processed.  An Infrastructure Malta spokesman confirmed when contacted that the material was delivered to the site by a contractor it had engaged after having received a request by the Federation for Hunting and Conservation to provide a small quantity of soil to plant new trees in a disturbed site.

“Soon after contractors started delivering soil on site, Infrastructure Malta was informed that the federation had not yet obtained the permits for this work so the agency instructed the contractors to immediately stop the delivery until the federation obtains the required permits.

“Infrastructure Malta is not being charged for the delivery,” he said.

The stretch of protected countryside is one of a number across the island which the hunting community claim is theirs to manage.

The issue of hunters’ rights to the area, particularly during hunting seasons, has been hotly contested over the years, with conservationists insisting that the land is publicly owned and open to all.