An American Opera Film Screening

Join Greenhouse, Nature Trust Malta and Moviment Graffiti featuring the first screening of 'An American Opera' in Malta.

'An American Opera' which is an operatic vision of the pets, vets, owners, adopters and community of greater New Orleans , LA as seen through the eyes of those who took action in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

There will be 3 film Screenings:
Monday 5th December 7pm -9pm at the University of Malta (LC217)
Friday 9th December 7pm-9pm at the University of Malta (TBC)
Friday 16th December 7pm-9pm at the University of Malta (LT2)

Entrance is free but donations will be gladly accepted and appreciated.

This documentary is on the animal rescue operation following Hurricane Katrina. The film shows how tens of thousands of house pets were left to perish in neighborhoods all across the gulf when the owners were forced to evacuate without their pets. Tom McPhee the director of the film went to Gonzales, Louisiana not knowing how he would help, just knowing he needed to help somehow. He volunteered at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center and by chance found himself spending the next four days taking picture after picture of thousands of house pets rescued from flooded New Orleans. For the next 16 months Tom would document this historic event as it unfolded, trying to understand where it all went wrong. An American Opera is an unflinching, operatic vision of what happened to the people of New Orleans who were forced to evacuate without their beloved pets. Follow the story of the Pets, Vets, Owners, Officials, Rescuers and Adopters of animals as they all work through the chaos to do what is right only to discover not everyone is working toward the same goal!

Plug-in the Shark reality!!

European Shark Week - Malta

Sharklab-Malta,  Nature trust (Malta) and Greenhouse are joining forces for this years European Shark Week. This will not only increase the potential for volunteers at activities, but will also allow for a greater involvement from each organisations supporters and a wider sharing of information and education.

The activity list was mailed to all Sharklab-Malta members and needs to be shared with Nature Trust (Malta) and Greenhouse members so we can maximise support at each activity

 https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=230742880315064

Saturday 15th October: "Awareness dive for Sharks" - This is being organised for ESW by Nature Trust and is weather dependant. I do not have any specific details of this activity yet. I think this is now being organised for Sunday 16th due to the weather... more details needed please..


Sunday 16th October:    " Awareness Activity at Marsaslokk Market" - This is a joint activity with Nature Trust and Greenhouse. Meeting at Marsaslokk for the activity to run from 7.00 am until 12.00 am . This activity is being organised as a petition drive for ESW as well as an educational event to teach the public more about Sharks and the problems they face not only in Europe but more specifically here in Malta. The issues of overfishing, bycatch and lack of knowledge will all be addressed at this activity. This event needs the support and participation of as many members as possible. You can be there from the start or arrive later in the morning, but you need to let me know as soon as possible if you are able to attend and at what time.


Monday 17th October:   "The Shark" - This is a multimedia presentation all about the shark, organised byAlison Stolnicu with the Parish Priest at Santa Marija Parish Church in Birkirkara. The presentation will start at around 6.45 pm and has been organised for a group of young people who attend this evening meeting as well as the general public. All members are welcome to help out at and attend this activity. Please let me know if you are able to attend this presentation.


Friday 21st October:       "The Shark"  - This is a multimedia presentation all about sharks. This is being held at Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School and is only open to students attending the school. If you are available to help setting up and helping at this activity, then please let me know. The start time of this presentation is 10.00 am in the "New Library Buildiing".


Friday 21st October:        "Sharkwater" -  The film is being shown at Lecture hall 1 at the University of Malta and is open to all members and members of the public. The start time is 7.00 pm and I ask that you spread the word about the opportunity to see the film which has made a global  difference to the way many people percieve sharks. This is a joint activity with Nature Trust (Malta) and Greenhouse. There is no charge for attending this film and I would recommend if you have not seen it to make sure this date is in you diary. Open to all.. Please share the attached poster to all of your friends!!!


Link: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=230509790337070


Saturday 22nd October:   "Awareness in the Mall" - Sharklab-Malta organised awareness activity at "The Point" Shopping centre in Sliema. This activity will run from 9.30 am until 7.30 pm (all day) and we will be all about educating the public about sharks and the marine life around Malta. Getting as many signatures on the Shark Alliance petition as possible and making a difference. If you are available to take part in this day of awareness then please let me know. You can support this activity by being around all day or if you can't make all day then just for a few hours in the morning or afternoon would be great. Nature Trust (Malta) and Greenhouse members will also be supporting this event. Please let me know your availability as soon as possible. This will be a whole day of making a difference in Malta and if we can make this BIG then we stand a chance of making real progress to protecting more species of sharks.

Size Matters!

Artisanal fishers and civil society groups are united in calling for the CFP reform to deliver sustainable European fisheries. On Monday October 10 2011, representatives of these groups are rallying for their voice to be taken onboard in the CFP reform. They will launch a joint declaration “Size Matters – Quality Counts” on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

The following day there will be a hearing in the European Parliament on the socio-economic viability of small-scale and coastal fisheries. (Photo and text courtesy of Ocean2012 and Corey Arnold)

Greenhouse has signed the decleration in support of Ocean2012 along with fellow local NGOs Nature Trust Malta and Sharklab (Malta).

Wied Għollieqa - A Nature Reserve on Campus!

This is a guest article by Zach Engerer, Nature Trust Malta's Youths and Scientific Officer which has previously been published on the @KSU magazine.

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With an area of about 0.02km², Wied Għollieqa is a small nature reserve located within the boundaries of the University of Malta, between the University and Kappara. Although not very large, this valley has quite a lot to offer to the visitor, from the myriad of trees, shrubs and flowers growing in the area to the temporary pond that fills with water after rainfall that helps in attracting many birds and insects to the area.

Since the 1990s, Nature Trust (Malta) has been managing the site by restoring rubble walls and paths, planting local trees and cleaning up the area, making Wied Għollieqa as we know it today – a great place to unwind and relax after a stressful time at the University.

Three entrances to the nature reserve exist with the main one being in Car Park 1 opposite the Wied Għollieqa Environment Centre, which also acts as NTM’s headquarters. From there one finds himself in a narrow passageway passing under a carob tree that eventually leads to an opening in the valley and later on to the temporary pond. Crossing the dam, the path gets narrow once again and passes next to a vast patch of bramble, which gives the valley its name (għollieq is the Maltese name for bramble). Turning right close to a cultivated field one may then pass through a number of terraced fields, all of which are dominated by pine trees, giving visitors an idea of a small woodland. This continues up to a small room (the għorfa), and in this area one may also encounter one of about 300 individuals of the sandarac gum tree, the Maltese national tree.

Managing the site is however not always an easy task and for this reason volunteers and members are fundamental in the upkeep and maintenance of such sites and are often the lifeline of numerous campaigns, promotions and events that NTM carry out.

Besides Wied Għollieqa, NTM also manages another site in the south of the island, at Xrobb l-Ghagin where any visitor can admire the biodiversity of three local habitats: woodland, steppe and garigue. The area also has a visitors’ centre that is a prime example of sustainable development with the presence of sun pipes, three types of photovoltaic panels, vertical and horizontal wind turbines and a biological drainage treatment system.

Anyone interested in joining the Nature Trust (Malta) team, or just for more information regarding what we do, please do not hesitate to contact us by email on info@naturetrustmalta.org or visit us at the Wied Għollieqa Environment Centre in Car Park 1.

Is it about politics, economics and opportunists? Or is it just a lack of public awareness?

Part one of a three-part article on The Common Fisheries Policy

Anthony Debono

A quick Google search for the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP, started in 1983) shows that it is considered to be a complete failure and that there is a great need for change. Some British parliamentarians have even suggested that the UK should opt out of the CFP and set up their own sovereign fishing zone.^[1] But what are the main problems with the current CFP? Is their any way to fix this mess that Europe’s seas are in?

Last year Greenhouse joined Ocean2012, an international coalition of organisations that have teamed up to promote a successful CFP reform, which is set for 2012. We posted an article^[2] on this blog several months ago, announcing the beginnings of our Fish4Tomorrow campaign, alongside other local NGOs (Nature Trust Malta, Sharklab (Malta), Din l-Art Ħelwa and Get Up Stand Up); this campaign is well underway and you will definitely hear more about it closer to summer.

Ocean2012 identify three main areas where the CFP has failed us:^[3]

· Overcapacity: It is estimated that some fleet segments in the EU are two to three times the size required to catch the available fishing quotas - we can fish more fish than there are fish. Newer boats with better and better technology are exhausting the stocks we have.

· Catch limits: Overcapacity creates political pressure to set higher and higher fishing quotas to keep all the boats working. In the last years, the catch limits agreed were on average 46 percent higher than scientific advice. In 2007, the quota for one population of Scottish haddock was set at eight times the recommended level.

· Harmful subsidies: The EU continues to provide subsidies to modernise fleets rather than focussing on mitigating overcapacity or investing in technologies that could support more sustainable fisheries. Furthermore, exemption from fuel tax, the cost of national administration, fisheries research and control measures could also be considered a subsidy to the fishing sector. “In several member states, it has been estimated that the cost of fishing to the public budgets exceeds the total value of the catches.” This means we are paying for our fish twice, through subsidies and at the counter.

These are three very direct problems which need to be fixed by the next reform, in 2012, however it’s easy to predict that there will be tremendous political pressure to limit change: cuts to catch limits/quotas and to industry subsidies are not exactly welcome by the multi-billion Euro fishing industry and the economies that they support. A clear example of the lack of political will is the result of the ICCAT meeting in Paris last November, where the quota for Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna was discussed. The world quota for Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna, in 2010, was 13,500 tonnes. WWF were supporting Commissioner Damanaki’s call for a 50% slash to the world quota for 2011, however all we go was a drop to 12,900 tonnes.^{[4, 5]}

Fishing quotas are a hot issue locally, in the EU and on a global platform. Unfortunately, scientific recommendations for sustaining healthy fish stocks, which we could harvest for centuries to come, are being drowned out by the industry; an industry that keeps on insisting that more and more and more is what we need. It is a sad fact that even though we have technology, know-how and incredible information on fish stocks, we can’t even manage our fish stocks as successfully as our ancestors, who had none of this.

Our members and followers of this blog might ask the most obvious – what does Greenhouse have to do with all this? Greenhouse is a student organisation, based at the University of Malta. What do we have to do with fish stocks in the Mediterranean and rest of the world? Why should we interfere in the industry, even locally?

One of our main objectives as an organisation is to raise awareness locally on environmental issues and this is one of those issues in which awareness is paramount. Why? So what if the man in the street or the student on campus is aware of the issue of over-fishing? Well, the most significant cause of overfishing is in fact a lack of consumer awareness. It’s all about supply and demand. Fishermen catch fish to sell to the consumer. Most consumers, locally at least, do not make an informed choice when deciding what fish to eat – a survey carried out by the Fish4Tomorrow team found the following results: ^[7]

70% of respondents do not take sustainability into account when deciding on what fish to eat.

48 % eat Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (a species whose stock is known to be threatened).

81% said that if they knew a fish was endangered/threatened they would not eat it.

96% said that they would choose their fish differently if they were more informed.

A list of fish-species, which are quite popular in Malta, has been drawn up by the Fish4Tomorrow team and these were sorted into categories, based on various criteria, as to whether the fish stocks on these species are sustainable, not-sustainable or somewhere in-between. This information will soon be developed into a handy booklet (a little one that can fit into a wallet or pocket) for everybody to carry around when they go fish shopping or out to eat. This is being done in the hope that the man in the street will start to consider fish sustainability and encourage a change in the everyday habits and attitude we take towards the food which we eat.

On Friday, I will be representing Greenhouse and the Fish4Tomorrow Campaign at "Fished Out?" a conference organised by Din L-Art Ħelwa on the issue of the local fisheries industry. I will be introducing the campaign and the philosophy behind it. Other speakers at the conference include Dr Joe Borg (ex-Fisheries Commissioner, EU), Dr Alan Deidun, Dr John Refalo (Representative, Azzopardi Fisheries), Ms Caroline Muscat (Journalist), Prof Victor Axiak (Marine Biologist) and Dr Robert Vassallo Agius (Aquaculture Scientist). There should be some interesting and lively discussions.

------

Ref:

1. http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/2011/01/britain_and_eu
2. http://greenhouse-malta.blogspot.com/2010/11/4-environmental-ngos-launch.html
3. http://www.ocean2012.eu/channel/index/id/1436#
4. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/france/101129/atlantic-bluefin-tuna-iccat
5. http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=8030
6. http://na.oceana.org/sites/default/files/o/fileadmin/oceana/uploads/europe/downloads/Fact_sheet_DMO_ENG.pdf (citing the European Commission)
7. Fish4Tomorrow Campaign, Market Analysis Report (2010).

End of the Line & Fish4Tomorrow

On Wednesday we will be screening "The End of the Line" at University (KSU Common Room) as part of Environment Fair from 13:00 and 15:00. The screening is free, so come and watch this interesting, inspiring and intense documentary on the state of the world's fisheries.

We will also be introducing the Fish4Tomorrow Campaign, a project we are working on with other local NGOs (Nature Trust, Sharklab, Din L-Art Helwa and Get up Stand up) and volunteers. The campaign is an attempt at building public awareness on sustainable awareness and an attempt at nurturing a culture of sustainable consumption in this country of ours!

Come to find out more about what YOU can do to help solve this global problem!

Open Letter & Letter to the Editor by ENGOs for Sustainable Landscaping.

Letter to the Editor sent by Greenhouse, Nature Trust Malta and Friends of the Earth after recieving no reply on their concerns by the Environmental Landscape consortium .

Environmental Landscape Concerns

In an open letter sent to the Environmental Landscape Consortium, the NGOs : Greenhouse, Nature Trust Malta and Friends of the Earth expressed their concern about the Consortium’s unsustainable practices.

While the NGOs expressed the acknowledgement that the ELC had brought about a change in the rural environmental landscape of the Maltese Islands yet they voiced their concerns on the rationale behind the excessive pruning of various trees which provide roosting sites for birds and shady places for passers-by especially during the summer months. Trees at the Mriehel Bypass, Naxxar, Valletta and other places have been defoliated extensively risking the survival of such trees.

The landscaping with alien species has been a recurrent concern for many people. Species such as the Hottentot Fig have been used risking their escape into the surrounding countryside where they have the ability to become invasive to the detriment of native biota.

In this letter the organizations question what type of pest management is used by ELC and if any precautions are used if pesticides are applied and why do ELC insist on planting annuals instead of perennials so as to reduce the amount of organic waste produced. They also raised the issue of water use in areas where turf is being planted as this poses a high maintenance and high water quantity needs - when our Islands are struggling to ensure a sustainable water supply.

The organizations feel that with improvement on the landscape practices the ELC can bring about a positive change but if the above concerns are not addressed the NGOs feel that the urban environment will become greener at the expense of other environmentally-related elements.

Original Letter sent to ELC but left unanswered on the 19th of November 2010

Dear Sir/Madam,

Greenhouse, Nature Trust Malta and Friends of the Earth are local environmental organization concerned about Malta’s biodiversity and sustainability. It is for this reason that we are writing this letter to you.

The Environmental Landscape Consortium has done a very good job in turning some of Malta’s derelict places into green areas which are pleasing and aesthetically beautiful. The Consortium has filled in a very important gap in greening our urban areas but we would like to draw your attention to some practices which are unfortunately tarnishing the very good work being done.

First of all, the ELC has been criticized not for the first for its excessive pruning. Tree foliage is an important urban feature for a variety of reasons. Species of birds roost in such foliage and excessive pruning strips the birds of their roosting site. Excessive pruning has been practiced in locations such as the Mriehel Bypass, Naxxar, Valletta and other places. Large trees with dense foliage provide much-needed cooling by creating shady areas underneath them especially in the summer months. And although pruning is important for urban trees both for the trees’ and the cities’ benefits, such excessive landscaping is both scientifically and aesthetically unfit. Excessive pruning can also kill the tree eventually because in order for it to re-grow its foliage it needs to use energy stored in other places as it lacks its photosynthetic organs causing energy depletion.

Secondly, as has also been reported in the media some time ago, there is absolutely no need to use alien species to landscape. Imported species of grasses, flowering plants and trees have been used for this purpose. South African succulents in the form of the Hottentot Fig have also been used. The latter is of particular concern when considering its invasive ability to establish itself as an alien in our countryside. In the Guidelines on Trees, Shrubs and Plants for Planting and Landscaping in the Maltese Islands prepared by the Environmental Management Unit Planning Directorate (1992), it is explicitly stated that “the use of such species [exceedingly invasive species], is considered unacceptable irrespective of their proposed sitting; wherever any doubt exists about whether a species falls within this category, a precautionary approach shall be adopted.”

On a related note, we would like to express our doubts as to how sustainable turf-landscaping is. Its high maintenance and high water needs hardly do any justice for an island struggling to ensure a sustainable water supply. Furthermore it is common to have water sprinklers used for turf irrigation spewing water onto the streets in a clear wastage of water.

Thirdly, we would like to ask what is the pest management system used by the ELC. Are pesticides and herbicides used? And if yes, what precautions are taken to ensure passers-by and nearby houses are not exposed to the residues and wind-carried spray of these toxic chemicals?

Lastly we would like to enquire why perennials are removed after flowering. Some perennial species used in landscaping, such as geraniums, are transplanted just before flowering and removed right after. This surely adds to the organic waste generated in our country when other simple alternatives are available.

We thank you for your time and co-operation,

Best Regards,

Greenhouse, Friends of the Earth Malta & Nature Trust Malta

Media: Malta Independent, Times of Malta

4 Environmental NGOs launch the 'Fish4Tomorrow' Campaign

Over the past few months a number of local NGOs have come together to create the Fish4Tomorrow campaign. The main aim of this campaign is to raise awareness on sustainable fishing within the local context. It also plans to provide guidelines to fish consumers helping them determine which Maltese restaurants serve sustainably caught fish. This idea is similar to the international Fish2Fork campaign (3). Also, Coalitions such as Ocean 2012 (2) which includes high profile members such as Greenpeace, Birdlife International, WWF as well as local NGOs like Nature Trust, Greenhouse and Sharklab (Malta) are on the forefront of raising awareness by campaigning for entire reforms such as the 2012 CFP Reform (Common Fisheries Policy Reform) which aims for healthy oceans and putting an end to overfishing amongst other issues. All this is done in the hope of ensuring that our oceans are preserved for us and our future generations.

Despite its large size, the ocean is not inexhaustible or exempt from the effects of human activity. Over the past decade or so the ocean has suffered irreparable damage and one of the major components is the issue of overfishing. Due to factors such as Globalisation, high levels of demand for certain species of fish have come about. Such is this demand, that governing bodies like the EU have pumped large amounts of money into companies providing them with highly sophisticated equipment and fishing vessels. This in turn has left fish with not enough time to reproduce and therefore giving the species very little chance of survival. The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus Thynnus) is possibly one of the most high profile cases of overfishing the world is currently facing. In fact ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) have assessed that there has been a strong decline in its spawning stock biomass since 1993.

Catch limits of Bluefin Tuna are currently higher than scientific advice. In 2010 this was averaged to be at 34% higher. In attempt to counteract this, a quota is set by ICCAT which determines the amount of Tuna that is allowed to be caught per year. In 2008, this was set at 28,500 tonnes and has since been reduced to 13,500 tonnes for 2010. This, scientists believe, is still not low enough to give the Tuna a fighting chance of survival. Currenty, ICCAT is facing a lot of criticism from European countries like Malta, Italy and Spain for suggesting a significant drop in the quota down to 6,000 tonnes for 2011 and has had to reconsider this decision since.


Malta is one of the countries which is on the forefront of this issue since it plays one of the most important roles in the ranching of the Tuna which comes into the Mediterranean to breed. In 2006, the MCFS estimated the Bluefin tuna production in Malta to be at 3,000 tonnes, worth around €46,000,000 (1). One of the main reasons why Tuna stocks have been depleting so rapidly is because it is so far impossible to farm the fish, it being a migratory animal. This means the tuna is caught and ranched in large amounts, fattened for 6 months and finally exported, mainly to Japan.




Greenhouse
Nature Trust (Malta)
Shark Lab (Malta)
Get Up, Stand Up


1) http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/naso_malta/en
2) http://www.ocean2012.eu/OCEAN2012
3) http://www.fish2fork.com/




Media Features: Di-ve Media