Photos

Cory Shearwaters

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The Cory Shearwaters, Calonectris diomedea, or Ċiefa as known in Maltese, are seen out of their nests, which are located in the cliffs behind. Some of the Cory Sherwaters can be seen bathing in the water and enjoying the pleasant currents of the sea. Malta holds ten percent of the population of this type of bird. This photo was taken on a boat trip organised by Bird Life Malta which seeks to promote the well being of birds on the Maltese Islands. The boat visited the cliffs of Ta’Ċenċ and also its neighbouring cliffs. At the scene you are surrounded by birds and you can see dots, which are birds, as far as the eye can see.



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Oil Drums, Waste, Building, Clay and Sand Dunes,Spot the Odd Ones Out?

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Oil Drums, Waste, Buildings, Clay and Sand Dunes… Spot The Odd Ones Out? In the above picture the stairs are built directly on a sand dune – and therefore directly leaving an impact on the beach – showing how man tried to make the beach more accessible to humans but in so doing he has let an impact on the beach itself. This brings us to ask ourselves a question: is Malta’s main source of income, tourism, and overdevelopment worth the destruction of not only its nature and charm, but what attracts tourists to possibly the Mediterranean’s most sought after island in the first place? It’s also interesting to note that the abandoned and derelict hotel (looking like it had its hayday around 30 years ago) is not only an eyesore to the environment, but built on clay! This means that indeed, it had to be abandoned as the clay would’ve given way!



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Two Structures – both with a different purpose

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Two structures, both man-made, but with a completely different purpose The above picture shows more than what it seems. They say a picture has 1000 words to it… well one word for this: WHY? This leaves us pondering about the visible structures in the picture, mainly the hotel and the tower. They are both a man-made intrusion in (what’s becoming a rare sight) the Maltese landscape. One difference: one was built hundreds of years ago as a fortification against corsair attacks, the other, well, recently built for luxury and tourism! The gist is: ok one’s a necessity the other a luxury, but they’re both after all intrusion in the middle of the countryside. However, it is also very clear to see the difference in the carbon footprint of both structures.



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National Winning Photo 2010 – 1st: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall….

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Vernacular architecture used to be quite abundant in the Maltese islands. This is mostly thanks to rubble walls scattered all over Malta and Gozo. However nowadays, these rubble walls and adjoining fields are constantly being destroyed so that new buildings could be built. It seems that, , the people who take these decisions are finding it very easy to turn their back on all the hard work our ancestors had to endure in order to construct those walls. Their functionality and aesthetic appeal seems to have been lost.



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National Winning Photo 2010 – 2nd: Clouds come and go but Clay Slopes may be lost Forever

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In the area of Imgiebaħ there is a series of high cliffs with clay slopes underneath receding gradually to the coast. This remote area remained a pristine area for generations, until off-roading became a craze. For years landrovers and scramblers had a field day over the clay slopes. Erosion set in and as clay became compacted, vegetation could not grow. This speeded up the loss of clay to the coast below. However, awareness to save the clay slopes is now in full swing as all form of off-roading is now banned. The cliffs are now smiling over the clay slopes as they can now breathe freely as no more scrambling will take place.



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National Winning Photo 2010 – 3rd/International Special Prize: The Gateway to the Future of the Natural World… OUR World.

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The opinion of most people living in the Maltese Islands today is that the environment is their rubbish tip. Around this structure, you can see a not-so-attractive assortment of rubble, plastic appliances, pipes, and wires, directly underneath a sign that says “Keep everywhere clean”. Is this some sort of sick joke? If this is what we have reduced ourselves to, what will we do next? How about burning down Buskett (Malta’s only woodland) and turning it into a landfill? Or maybe killing off every single bird that flies our way? The state of the Maltese countryside is a disgrace; and the people are doing nothing about it. The future looms ahead – will we avert course, or will we perish?



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National Winning Photo 2010 – 4th: The Maltese Islands… Laden with History, Nature, and… What’s that in the Background?

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A picturesque example of the Maltese environment, with historical churches, grassland, rolling hills and – wait – what’s that in the background? Yes, that’s right. It’s a quarry. The delicate beauty of the countryside left by a terrible sore.



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National Winning Photo 2010 – 5th: White vs Green

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Mankind is now the number one cause of all the destruction happening on Earth. As well as trying to destroy each other on the battle-field, we are the cause of a series of other disasters to the environment such as filling up the environment with tonnes of bulky waste. In Malta we have five different civic amenity sites, which open every day and are free for the public. This project is in fact being part-financed through the European Union Structural Funds, with an estimated value of 4.6 Million Euros. Local councils also give their civilians a free service to pick up their bulky waste free of charge. Unfortunately, some people are not using these services but are putting away their rubbish everyone. We used to ask to improve civic amenity sites, now I suggest that we have to work on ENVIRONMENTAL and CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION.



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Wise Waste Disposal

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In this picture we are seeing these four different bins that are all messed up, because people are not taking good care of them. To avoid this we could dispose of waste more wisely.



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What will the Maltese Biodiversity look like in 10 Years’ Time?

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A local vehicle dumping debris in an abandoned field.



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