LIFE PanPuffinus! project launch

May 24, 2021 3:59 pm

Date: Friday, 18 June 2021
Time: 10:30–12:00
Location: FB Live

BirdLife Malta’s next EU LIFE-funded seabird-study project LIFE PanPuffinus! will soon be officially launched in Malta. The project aims to protect two endemic and threatened Mediterranean seabirds: the Yelkouan Shearwater (Maltese name: Garnija, Scientific name: Puffinus yelkouan) and the Balearic Shearwater (Maltese name: Garnija Balearika, Scientific name: Puffinus mauretanicus), through a unique transboundary collaboration for joint large-scale conservation efforts.

After successfully running four seabird-focused LIFE projects, BirdLife Malta has joined forces with its BirdLife partners from another four countries (France, Greece, Portugal, Spain), as well as Malta’s Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Greece’s Management Body of Cyclades Protected Areas, for a unique Mediterranean-wide collaboration for the conservation of these two seabird species. It will tackle two major threats that these seabirds meet throughout their entire life cycle: predation by invasive mammal species on land, and accidental capture by fishing gear (bycatch) at sea.

The €3.45 million project, co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE programme and Malta’s Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights, has already started earlier in 2021 and will run till 2025.

The launch event, under the distinguished patronage of the Hon. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights Anton Refalo, will take place at our Salina Nature Reserve and will be open only to a selected audience by invitation. However we invite you to watch us live online as we will broadcast the launch event live to reach the widest possible audience. The launch will be streamed live on the Facebook event.

Read more about the project on our new webpage here. You can also visit the Facebook page for regular updates about the work being carried out by the project team.

The Yelkouan Shearwater (Photo by Aron Tanti, BirdLife Malta)
The Balearic Shearwater (Photo by Pep Arcos, SEO BirdLife)