BirdLife Malta has been awarded the Environmental Stewardship Award for Voluntary Organisations at the ERA Awards 2025, held yesterday at Verdala Palace under the auspices of Her Excellency Myriam Spiteri Debono, President of Malta.
Presented by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), the award recognises voluntary organisations that have made a significant and lasting contribution to the protection and enhancement of Malta’s environment.
The award highlights the success of the Salina Wetland Restoration Project, which has restored one of Malta’s most important wetland areas into a thriving ecosystem. The project involved removing illegally dumped material, creating brackish water canals and ponds, replanting native vegetation, and improving public access through nature-friendly facilities. It was made possible thanks to the support and funding of the Donors Initiative for Freshwater Ecosystems (DIMFE), which invested €300,000.
In its citation, ERA commended BirdLife Malta for its scientifically grounded approach to habitat restoration and biodiversity conservation. The authority also praised the project’s alignment with Natura 2000 site management objectives, its contribution to environmental sustainability goals, and its strong emphasis on community engagement through educational initiatives, and public outreach.
When receiving the award, BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana thanked DIMFE for its financial support, and ERA and Ambjent Malta for their support during the project’s implementation. He also expressed gratitude to BirdLife Malta’s Head of Land Management Mark Gauci and Salina Nature Reserve Manager Manuel Mallia, who, together with their team, managed the restoration of the site.
Mr Sultana also acknowledged ERA’s broader work to protect Malta’s natural environment, while noting that “it faces many challenges.” He explained, “Our relationship with ERA is a mature one. We criticise when needed, but we collaborate continuously – and the results are always very satisfactory.”
Looking ahead, he added, “As an EU member state, Malta now faces new challenges under the recently adopted Restore Nature Directive. Our nature reserves must expand, and new ones should be designated. But most importantly, the values we hold in these nature reserves – where nature always comes first – must overflow out of their boundaries and into the wider Maltese culture and a way of living once and for all.”
This marks the third wetland restoration project in BirdLife Malta’s history. The NGO previously restored the Għadira Nature Reserve in Mellieħa – once abandoned salt pans, now a thriving bird sanctuary – and the Simar Nature Reserve in Xemxija, where degraded marshland was rehabilitated into a rich mosaic of reedbeds, pools, and wildlife habitat.
Ecological benefits from the Salina Wetland project are already evident, with native plants, fish, and breeding birds returning to the site. BirdLife Malta is proud to receive this national recognition, reaffirming its commitment to protecting Malta’s natural heritage and promoting environmental stewardship for the benefit of both nature and people.
Read our press release in Maltese here.