Assessment of the Maltese environmental matrix to define the future monitoring strategy

Abstract

As a member of the EU and of the international community, Malta has important obligations to report on the state of the environment and the effectiveness of policy measures addressing particular concerns, such as pollution (Regional Environmental Center, 2008). Failure to collect reliable and up-to-date environmental data would make Malta exposed to various environmental pressures due to poorly informed policy decisions, which could eventually also lead to economic implications (European Commission, 2014a). Under this context Malta is in the process of implementing the EU legislative framework regarding the environmental themes of air, water, radiation and soil. Prior to the implementation of the project “Development of environmental monitoring strategy and environmental monitoring baseline surveys”, air and water data from the Maltese environmental network were already available, though data coverage presented some lacunas, whereas radiation and soil network system was not in place, hence minimum baseline data was available. Therefore, the long term monitoring strategic proposal discussed in this article has been designed as a primary tool to improve the state of the environment as well as to be in compliance with the EU Directives related with nature conservation.