Sustainability of conservation areas : marine and terrestrial perspectives

Abstract

The study aimed to provide an account which identifies a means of monitoring protected sites with a holistic approach so as to assess their biological and economical sustainability with a planning, management and conservation point of view. The study was based on two case studies namely Ghajn Tuffieha (North West Malta) and Ramla (Gozo). The study involved analysis of various studies previously undertaken in the two sites and a research involving a biodiversity study of both marine and terrestrial fauna and flora of the two sites together with an anthropogenic study involving beach population counts. The procedures all involved non-destructive techniques which were indispensable due to the conservation nature of the study. The vegetation survey involved the laying of three transects at Ghajn Tuffieha and five transects at Ramla. Results indicate that the impacts are higher for terrestrial flora at Ghajn Tuffieha which exhibited a lower species richness than in Ramla. This may be due to past anthropogenic activities including offroading.