Protecting shearwaters at night: BirdLife Malta releases Guidelines for Ecologically Responsible Lighting

The Milky Way as observed from Dwejra, Gozo, Malta, cover photograph by Joseph Caruana

“With the aim of protecting Malta’s nocturnal environment for seabirds and beyond, BirdLife Malta’s LIFE Arċipelagu Garnija project – which this year comes to an end – has released a set of guidelines for ecologically responsible lighting in the Maltese Islands.

These guidelines for best practices in lighting are now being shared with the relevant stakeholders as part of the EU LIFE-funded project which has over the past five years worked to secure the Maltese Islands for the Yelkouan Shearwater [Puffinus yelkouan] (Garnija), a small seabird species that can only be found in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean region. The Maltese Islands are home to approximately 10% of the world population of this shearwater species, therefore their protection is important on the global scale, especially with the population declines Yelkouan Shearwaters have been facing over the last decades.”

Yelkouan Shearwater, photograph by Matthew Borg Cardona

Undirected shore-line lights in Malta shine brightly

Read the whole media release by BirdLife Malta here.

Reference:

Crymble, J. [2020].  Guidelines for Ecologically Responsible Lighting.  Protecting the Nocturnal Environment of the Maltese Islands for Seabirds and Beyond.  BirdLife Malta LIFE Arċipelagu Garnija Project.  39 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 August 2020