Draft Ċirkewwa Marine Park Management Plan 2022-2027 announced

On the 18th January 2023, Nature Trust FEE Malta has announced its Draft Ċirkewwa Marine Park Management Plan 2022-2027.

The draft was made public during an event at the starfish shaped Malta National Aquarium in Qawra which was well attended by public, with two presentation sessions having an attendance of about 100 individuals, some of them representing diverse NGOs and interests.

Following introductions by ADI associates (who assisted in formulating this management plan), and the Executive Director of Nature Trust FEE – Mr Vincent Attard, Ms Martina Cutajar, the Cirkewwa Marine Park manager explained the different parts of the plan.

Amongst the items covered in the draft management plan, was identifying the extent of the Cirkewwa Marine Park site as well as the issues and challenges raised by stakeholders during the different consultation phases.

Ms Cutajar also covered the vision statement for the Cirkewwa Marine Park, which focuses on sustaining and protection of the environment, ensuring legal protection and enforcement, address the educational aspect and promote the conservation status and public enjoyment of the park.

Drafting the management plan required preliminary assessment of habitats, the uses and assessment of the existing legislation. It is further important to note that the Cirkewwa Marine Park falls within a Special Protected Area covering the sea around Gozo. Furthermore, from the vision statement the management plan develops into objectives to be reached and then further split into specific actions to be undertaken during the period of the management plan.

The actions themselves include for example the zonation aspect, where different areas of the park are used for different uses, in a similar manner to what is normally done in other marine protected areas abroad.

However it is to be noted that the actions will not be rolled out in a big bang approach, but rather in a staggered manner so that some actions might be running at different time periods or all throughout the project depending on reaching the objectives. The plan itself has then to be revised after 4 years, considering the outcomes of the management actions, the progression or regression of different aspects, and to develop further the management plan for future years once the 5 year period of the plan passes.

Discussion

Both sessions were followed by an open Q&A and discussion between those present. It was noted that in the first session, a quite intensive discussion ensued with regard to fishermen angling in the area close to the divers’ parking. Whilst the discussion indicated that anglers’ representatives present consider Cirkewwa as a particularly rare site in Malta for deeper water fishing, with easy access for people who cannot walk long distances to get similar opportunities from cliffs, similar arguments were raised related to the danger for divers of entanglement with fishing lines as well as the need to maintain the ethos of the site as a conservation zone.

The organisers of the event ensure was that these concerns would be considered within the zonation process, in view of further information that is obtained during the final consultations, for which feedback was welcome until the end of January 2023 and which can be sent to martina@naturetrustmalta.org.

Other questions raised related to timeline for implementation, also will need some time to be rolled out due to the further actions that are to be carried out, the sign-off from several authorities and in the longer term, based on funding and results that would have been obtained over the period of putting the management plan in process.

divinginfo.mt review

Whilst at a glance, most of the planned actions have already been touched upon in consultation meetings held with the diving community, with some being direct suggestions by participants, there are 19 key points that the draft plan includes as part of the actions.

1. Elaboration of detailed surveying programmes for the surveying of; benthic habitat types within the Marine Park and the spatial distribution and conservation status of the Posidonia oceanica habitat
2. Assessment of the uses, their distribution and unused areas of the Marine Park and their potential for new areas of activity
3. Create a zonation plan for the entire area defined as the Ċirkewwa Marine Park, identifying the activities permissible in each of the zones set up, including a code of conduct.
4. To establish areas for different diving activities (e.g., open water skills training, advanced open water training…).
5. To install moorings in the different areas (dive boat moorings and general boating mooring) and define mooring regulations.
6. Establish no anchoring zones to safeguard seabed habitats.
7. To develop a code of conduct for the Marine Park and to install signage for the different areas and permissible activities within each zone.
8. Create a Park Ranger Unit with a defined agreement on the number of hours to enforce park regulations and monitor activities undertaken in the park.
9. To patrol the Marine Park and enforce environmental compliance in respect of all operators using the Marine Park
10. Create an on-site monitoring system to cover time frames when ranger unit is not on-site.
11. Establish an agreement with each of the enforcement authorities defining the responsibilities of each authority in terms of enforcing illegal activity on site.
12. To create a website, which is frequently updated with information on the species, habitats, rules and regulations as well as events and activities occurring in the Marine Park.
13. Set up signs on site, both informative as part of citizen science campaigns and also signs which help divers to plan their dive prior to entering the water. Educational material which can be used for on-site activities and be distributed in schools will also be created.
14. To prepare a tentative programme of events for a number of months or over a calendar year.
15. Set up an underwater camera and a virtual reality experience will be set up as an educative tool for non-diver visitors.
16. To set-up a diver ‘check-in/check-out’ system to ensure that all divers entering the site are accounted for. This tool will also prove useful in acquiring data on the number of divers visiting the site daily, for external funding (e.g., EU LIFE funding). It will also help in establishing the environmental contribution and which activities will be taxable at the marine park, when the environmental contribution is implemented.
17. Determine the best suited place to establish a visitor’s centre having information panels, together with designating a first-aid room.
18. Create enough area for an ambulance to be able to access the first-aid room and for paramedics to be able to provide initial treatment of injuries on site.
19. To actively seek out funding to ensure that the Marine Park and all infrastructure set-up within the Marine Park are sustainable and managed long-term.

The action points themselves are a mix of actions that are meant to consolidate actions that have already been initiated (e.g. increased monitoring by the HPF Ranger Unit to ensure breaches of Notice to Mariners are addressed), but some are actions that have been called for by divers for a long time such as emergency facilities and the most expected zonation plan.

The future zonation plans in fact should be one of the more controversial items in the future, judging that there has already been quite some concern from anglers operating in the area right under the dive site parking. Additional concerns have been raised due to recreational boat traffic and the use of the South Quay at Cirkewwwa by the Gozo Ferry in case of adverse weather. Alas, at the moment the plan does not directly address it, but fishing and leisure boating are definitely expected to be affected by such plans. It might be as well that divers might have no-go zones.

One cannot but consider this plan as major, important and necessary preparatory work for a future better experience at the Cirkewwa Marine Park for divers but even more so for the underwater environment. Further enforcement of rules already in place (such as the Notice to Mariners regulating boat traffic and fishing from boats) will result in a better experience, such as increased marine life as reported in recent months. Further site facilities will help the diver have a better experience when visiting the site, such as the proposed emergency room.

However, there is still a long way to go to meet all the divers’ expectations, since we ask for quite a long list. It is understandable however that the limitation of Nature Trust FEE’s remit requires support by all stakeholders, starting from individual divers to those heading authorities such as Transport Malta, Department for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Malta Tourism Authority etc.

You may see a copy of the DRAFT Management Plan below.

Furthermore, one needs to remember that the site itself is directly affected as well by the Diving Strategy action plan announced last year, on which we will soon be reporting as its anniversary is nearing.

Wishing Nature Trust FEE all successes, calling on divers to collaborate and participate actively in discussions!