Did you know that less than 2.5% of the Maltese coast is made up of sandy beaches?
Being an island, Malta is often pictured as a haven filled with sandy beaches. But they might be rarer than you think!
Annalise Falzon, project assistant at the NGO ‘Friends of the Earth Malta’, has explored the sand dune and its role as a natural habitat. Incidentally, it is one of the rarest and most threatened habitats in the Maltese Islands, such that most of its inhabitants make the list of endangered species.
Less than 2.5% of the coast is made up of sandy beaches, making the sand dune a rare habitat to begin with. One such area is found in Comino, in a zone known as ‘Il-Qala ta’ Santa Marija’. This habitat is one of the 11 protected habitats present on Comino, despite being highly fragmented and degraded.
The typical flora and fauna found on sand dunes consist of highly adapted species, known as ‘psammophiles’, meaning a plant or animal that thrives in sandy areas, and is thus often restricted to this rare habitat. Some such species found on this sand dune are called the Sea Daffodil (Pankrazju), Sea Knotgrass (Lewża tal-Baħar) and the Sea Rocket (Kromb il-Baħar).
Towards the back of the dune, larger plants help create shade and more stability in the sand, using their roots. One such plant is the Tamarisk tree (Bruka), which provides the only shelter available in the area, as it is the only tree that can withstand very high levels of salinity.
What is known as the Chaste Tree (Bżar tal-Patrijiet) might also produce a few shrubs on the dune, blooming in early summer and attracting several pollinator species.
This spotlight serves as a reminder that sand dunes are home to several species of flora and fauna too, all of which deserve our attention and care! More information on Comino and its landscape can be found on the 'Il-Forn ta' Kemmuna' site, set up as an information centre for all things Comino.
Have you ever seen any of the species mentioned?