Here are ALL the terrestrial Natura 2000 sites found in Malta

Given just how fast Malta’s landscape has changed in the past few decades, the protection of the islands’ key ecological areas has been something many people and institutions have strived towards in recent years.

Perhaps one of the best-known efforts to do so has been the Natura 2000 project – a network of environmentally important and protected areas scattered around the European Union (EU) that seeks to shelter and nurture fauna and flora far and wide.

Of course, Malta’s home to its fair share of Natura 2000 areas; so much so that these cover just under 14 per cent of the islands’ entire land area.

With that being said, whether you’re just curious about this bloc-wide project or interested in learning about ecological habitats on the islands, here are all the spots around Malta considered to be Natura 2000 sites.

Note: This article only covers Natura 2000 sites found on the island of Malta. Sites situated in Gozo and Comino will be mentioned in a separate piece.

1. L-Inhawi ta’ Pembroke

Formerly a rifle range used by the British military, this spot is nowadays home to a multitude of rare and endangered species of flora.

2. Il-Ballut tal-Wardija

A number of Malta’s oldest living trees – oak trees aged between 500 and 900 years old – live in this green area.

3. Il-Maqluba (limits of Qrendi)

Perhaps the Maltese islands’ best known national monument, the Il-Maqluba area primarily consists of a large sinkhole.

4. Is-Simar (limits of St Paul’s Bay)

Simar offers temporary shelters to dozens of migrating birds every year and is also home an artificially recreated yet environmentally important marshland.

5. Is-Salini

Seawater meets and mixes with rainwater at Salini, one of the Maltese islands’ largest existing marshlands.

6. L-Ghadira s-Safra u l-Iskoll tal-Ghallis

This spot comprises a lesser-known coastal wetland and a rocky shore. The former area supports ‘rare biotic assemblages’.

7. L-Inhawi tar-Ramla tat-Torri and l-Irdum tal-Madonna

Colonies of threatened seabirds have made the cliffs in the southern part of this area their home. The spot’s northern coast houses rare sand dune plant species.

8. Ix-Xaghra tal-Kortin

The inaccessible nature of this area’s cliff communities helps them nurture a number of endemic species of flora.

9. Ghar Dalam

The deepest parts of this prehistoric cave are home to an endemic isopod known as Armadilidium ghardalamensis.

10. Mizieb Valley

The largest community of Gharghar trees, i.e. Malta’s national tree, can be found in the Mizieb Valley.

11. Il-Ballut ta’ Marsaxlokk

Il-Ballut ta’ Marsaxlokk is one of Malta’s last remaining salt marshes.

12. L-Inhawi tal-Ghadira

This area is home to a huge variety of vastly different habitats: from sand dunes and garrigue, to a small saltmarsh and a brackish wetland, to mention a few.

13. Filfla and its surrounding islands

Easily the most isolated islet in the Maltese archipelago, Filfla is used by many bird species as a breeding site.

14. L-Inhawi tal-Buskett u l-Girgenti

This beloved green area is home to not one, not two, but three valley systems: Wied l-Isqof, Wied il-Luq, and Wied il-Girgenti.

15. L-Inhawi tal-Imgiebah u tal-Mignuna

Like L-Inhawli tal-Ghadira, this spot houses many different habitat types, including but not limited to cliffs, clay slope steppes, and garrigues.

**16. St Paul’s Islands (Selmunett)**

These islands were declared Nature Reserves in 1993, but before that, they were temporarily used for agricultural purposes.

17. Il-Maghluq tal-Bahar ta’ Marsaskala

A breath of fresh air within a largely urbanised town, this spot is home to ‘one of the few extant marshland communities’ in Malta.

18. Cliffs of Malta: Ir-Ramla tac-Cirkewwa to Ponta ta’ Benghajsa

Covering practically all the cliffs of Malta’s west coast, this area houses a number of endangered and endemic species of flora.

19. L-Ghar tal-Iburdan u l-Inhawi tal-Madwar

This lesser-known cave in Rabat is home to a community of bats.

20. Cliffs of Malta: Ix-Xaqqa to Wied Moqbol

Two species of sea-birds – Cory’s Shearwater and Yelkouan Shearwater – are known to have made these cliffs their home.

21. Cliffs of Malta: Ras il-Pellegrin to Xaqqa

Like Ix-Xaqqa to Wied Moqbol, this area is the perfect habitat for Cory’s Shearwaters and Yelkouan Shearwaters.

22. Cliffs of Malta: Wied Moqbol to Ponta ta’ Benghisa

Apart from providing a habitat to the two aforementioned species of sea birds, these cliffs are known to be important rest and feeding areas for migratory and wintering bird species.