Blue Flag Environmental Educational Activities Report 2012

Environmental Educational Activities

Report 2012Conservation of Maltas Natural Habitat is the theme for 2012 Blue Flag Environmental Educational Activities. This theme was selected from the RIO+20 Earth summit and the activities organised were in line with global issues highlighted during the summit. Activities were held for people of all ages and school children in all grades. Material was printed before summer in preparatiion for each event planned. All participants had active involvement and many praised the events coordination.The teachers and the students were very interested and they really enjoyed the outing; very well planned. Thanks, we really need outings like these. On behalf of our school I would like to thank you for the library books you sent with our teachersMalta Tourism Authority Auberge DItalie Merchants Street Valletta - Malta

Blue Flag

Jonathan Portanier Mifsud St. Nicholas College Rabat Primary

Blue Flag Environmental Educational Activities 2012 Pauline dingli

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ContentsIntroduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 1. The Backdrop.................................................................................................................................................. 6

Mellieha Bay................................................................................................................................................................ 7 2. Botanic April: Lecture at Valletta ................................................................................................................. 8 3.Botanic April: Walk across the Park ............................................................................................................... 8 4. Nature Photography at the Park .................................................................................................................. 9 5. Salt creations at Mellieha Bay - Ghadira.................................................................................................. 10 6. T Shirt Painting Ghadira Bay ......................................................................................................................... 11 7. Nightlife at the Park ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Golden Bay ............................................................................................................................................................... 13 8. Snorkelling and Underwater Fauna Awareness at Golden Bay ........................................................ 14 9. Golden Sands Hotel Lectures, DVD and Exhibition on Underwater Species ................................. 15 10.Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) ........................................................................................... 16 11.World Environment Day................................................................................................................................ 16 12. Message in a Bottle ...................................................................................................................................... 17 13. Coastal life at Golden Bay ......................................................................................................................... 18 14. Turtle Release and Five Lecture Groups ................................................................................................. 19 15. Exhibition of the Wild Flora of the Maltese Islands ............................................................................... 21 St. Georges Bay ...................................................................................................................................................... 22 16. Deck of Cards: Wild Flora of the Maltese Islands................................................................................. 23 17. School Visit to the Malta Maritime Museum .......................................................................................... 24 18.Visit to Birgu- Historic Maritime City ........................................................................................................... 25 19 . Wild flora and playing cards activity at St. Georges Bay ............................................................... 26 20. T Shirt Painting Pembroke Park St. Georges Bay ................................................................................. 27 22. Waste separation activity at St. Georges Bay..................................................................................... 28 Bugibba Perched Beach....................................................................................................................................... 30 23. Animal Awareness Week : Outing to Funny Farm ............................................................................... 31 24. Bugibba Perched Beach waste separation and litter picking ........................................................ 32 25. Hands in Clay ................................................................................................................................................. 34 26. Villa Bologna Gardens Tour........................................................................................................................ 35 25. Frog Signs Project ......................................................................................................................................... 36 Fond Ghadir .............................................................................................................................................................. 38 26. Snorkelling Fond Ghadir .............................................................................................................................. 39 27.Beach Libraries................................................................................................................................................ 40 28. Public Relations Projects ............................................................................................................................. 41 Blue Flag Environmental Educational Activities 2012 Pauline dingliPage 3

29.Beach News 2012 ........................................................................................................................................... 42 Qawra Point .............................................................................................................................................................. 44 30. Qawra Mask Parade .................................................................................................................................... 45 31. Bird Park Outing Qawra .............................................................................................................................. 46 32. Wasteserve lecture about what and how to separate beach waste .......................................... 47 34. Flora Exhibition for Science in the City, World Tourism Day and Notte Bianca ........................... 48 35. Flowers and Towers - desk calendar 2013 ............................................................................................ 49 36. Flowers and Towers Glass Coasters ..................................................................................................... 49


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2012 Educational Environmental Activities

Lets Con serve

S Natural Habitat

Potamon fluviatile lanfrancoi Maltese Freshwater Crab Qabru

Backdrop, two metres high, with the theme selected for 2012


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IntroductionSummer 2012 is celebrating the anniversary of an important milestone towards sustainable tone development. The ratification of Agenda 21 at Rio di Janeiro in 1992 , by several countries, . gave way to the official starting point for each country to commit itself and start measuring the damage that is being caused to the environment. Each country was to set a target date on plan to mitigate the negative environment impact environmental and work towards sustainable growth. RIO + 20 is the Earth Summit being held this summer to estimate the effort of the countries twenty years on. he countries; Conservation of the natural wea wealth was highlighted as a fundamental factor towards a healthy biodiversity. Malta, considered its size, is relatively rich in biodiversity, ecosystems and , habitats, and 2012 Blue Flag projects and activities were carefully selected to complement the global effort. The theme selected forms part of a wider campaign that commenced last year; Care for Nature! This year Blue Flag also celebrates 25 years of the first flying Flag, an idea that had sprouted s , two years earlier with a goal towards cleaner seas. The environmental educational activities for 2012 include several projects. This year Malta included endured high temperatures reaching a heat stress of over 42 degrees celcius and UV rays of 11. Furtheremore, summerschools operated only between 9.00am and 12.00 noon when the 1. sun was at it peak. Many activities were concentrated in the evening, in the shade, or indoors where possible. Instead of 26 activites for four Blue Flag and two Beaches of Quality, the MTA executed 36 projects and events.

1. The BackdropThe first project was the creation of a backdrop to be assembled during most of the summer irst events and Blue Flag activities. T . The selected theme Conservation of Maltas Natural Habitat, identifies endemic and indigenous flora fauna and marine species that inhabit the Maltese flora, ecies Islands. The rural, pocket beach environment of Gajn Tuffiea surrounded by the rare clay slope habitat is centre to the visual Maltas endemic freshwater crab was selected as the visual. reshwater logo for children to paint. (Visual on page 5)


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Mellieha BayBlue Flag


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2. Botanic April: Lecture at Valletta :The first activity that opened the season was Botanic April Maltas number one botanist, April. Professor Edwin Lanfranco was happy to deliver a lecture for a group of senior citizens at the eliver premises of Din L-Art Helwa Trust in Valletta. The two hour long presentation discussed indiginous and endemic flora as well as medicinal and aromatic herbs and native trees. The lecture was praised by everyone present and feedback was enormous. ised

3.Botanic April: Walk across the Park BotanicThe following weekend Professor Lanfranco led a group along a five hour walk across the Majjistral Nature and History Park of Mellieha and explained in detail about the Indigenous flora that was in full bloom. The experience was very positive and many participants photographed the flora species that they discovered. Certain flora species like the Sicilian Squill, the Rock Rose and the Mirror Orchid r Orchid, created exitement and were the highlights of the day.


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Posters Poster used for promoting the activities

4. Nature Photography at the ParkThe success of the previous activity prompted another event; this a time photographing the flora and fauna in a professional manner. A qualified nature photographer was commissioned to lead a fieldwork session with nature lovers and photograph enthusiasts. The fieldwork was held on a Saturday and some 30 persons attended the activity at the Majjistral Park. This time 0 the Mediterranean Thyme was in full bloom and its scent and colour filled the air.


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5. Salt creations at Mellieha Bay - GhadiraMellieha Bay was once a salt flat that contributed significantly to the Islands economy during the Middle Ages. The salt pan eventually gave the name to the locality of Mellieha which in Arabic means salt pan. The salt flat is now a nature reserve and a haven for bird watchers. This event involved the shool of Naxxar, where the children learnt about history of the locality, a traditional craft and how to care for nature while having fun. The girls loved the avtivity most.


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All the children were given a plate, different coloured salt and animal and fish moulds. plate, Mr. Bonnici, an expert in salt artwork explained the technique and showed simple ways that can produce good results. Some children were proud and happy to take their plates home with them in spite of the warnings that the movement of the bus of may ruin their work.

. 6. T Shirt Painting Ghadira BayThis activity involved the Mosta school, whereby T Shirts, paint, fish moulds and other tools were prepared for the children to paint with. The painting sessions were held on the Barbeque area of the beach away from sunbathers and swimmers. This area also has shaded areas under the trees. Childern loved splashing colours while painting flowers and their favorite animal or even a favourite Saint. The teachers were given printed material to follow up on the activity through he class exercises.


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7. Nightlife at the Park

Nightlife at the Park was held on Saturday 28th July and 45 persons turned up. The science curator of the National Museum of Natural History, delivered a lecture on bats to those present, guided them near favorite spots for bats and explained as to what they should be listening and seeing. The group was lucky enough to see a few. A special equipment was used to sense their noises and the biologist could identify the noises particular species that they had seen. Many bats, classified under three types of species, were encountered throughout the evening. Many commented that it was a pleasant experience.

Dr. Borg explaining about the sounds that bats make; The sound as monitored by the equipment

Ghadira Beach Library


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Golden BayBeach of Quality Award


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8. Snorkelling and Underwater Fauna Awareness at Golden BayThe snorkelling activity held at Fond Ghadir with Sharklab, mentioned earlier, was a success with children and it was repeated at Golden Bay. As the name implies, This is a sandy bay and one would think that it is not rich in underwater species. However, the slopes of the headlands are scree slopes that have parts of them submerged. This proved to be a haven both for flora and for fauna species that shelter amongst the boulders, both from preditors as well as from rough seas. The group was divided into three smaller groups and each had an instructor for the talk and who acted as their guide to explain their encounters in the water. On land they could also admire the samples and models that Sharklab exhibited for the participants.


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9. Golden Sands Hotel Lectures, DVD and Exhibition on Underwater SpeciesThe International Ocean Institute of Malta recently launched two documentaries on DVD about marine geology and fauna of the Maltese Islands. The documentaries took researchers and divers several months of work to veral produced. The research was supported with financial assistance from the European Union. The final product is a good documentation and a work of art that can take viewers through an interesting underwater experience. This activity was held mainly to expose further this work. The event also included presentations to the people present. The wild flora exhibition was assembled with other information and exhibits relevant with the topic.


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10.Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) YoungThe Federation for Environmental Education (FEE) operates the programme of the Young Reporters For the Environment. This year the Malta reporters were encouraged to focus eporters more on coastal problems so that their reports will make people aware of such issues. The teenagers were encouraged with attractive gifts so that they put more effort in their work. Not only did this idea work but few of the local participants won internationally and were also interviewed on the local TV station to highlight their concerns. The gifts were given to the winners by the Minister for Tourism Culture and the Environment in an activity that commemorated he World Environment Day.

Conservation of Maltas Natural Habitat The Malta Tourism Authoritywould like to thank

Joslyn Falzon for participating in the Blue Flag Environmental Educational Activities held during 2012 Summer 2012

______ ______________The Malta Tourism Authority

Certificate for Young Reporters for the En Environment (YRE) Winners

Exhibition of wild flora of the Maltese Islands

11.World Environment DayThe event of the World Environment Day started w a short walk and with talk by Dr. Joseph Borg, President of the Malta Horticulture Society who is also a specialist on Mediterranean Indigenous trees and local agriculture.


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On arrival at ir-Razzett tal-Qasam farm, the invitees could admire a Qasam photgraphic exhibition of wild flora of the Maltese Islands and a display of local produce which included items from organic farming. The Minister addressed the invitees and the press and explained the he investment and acheivments of the government towards the environment in particular the bathing water quality which now stands at the second best amongst all European countries. Certificates were awarded to participants and gifts were given to first and second placings. A deck of cards with the theme Wild Flora of the Maltese Islands, prepared as a Blue Flag project (explained further down) was given to everyone present.Message engraved on the bottle

12. Message in a BottleAnother souvenir prepared specifically for the day was A Message in a Bottle complementing r ottle, the idea of the Blue Flags 25th year commemorative item The Bottle was engraved with the s item. words World Environment Day 2012. The message that was inserted inside (copied further 2012. down), was accompanied by a few seeds of the he Mediterranean Aleppo Pine to encourage participants to plant a tree.

Message in the bottle


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Golden Bay Beach Library

13. Coastal life at Golden Bay

This activity was organised for Blue Flag by the Majjistral Nature and History Park guide, Annalise. She took a group of children with their parents around the park and identified points of interest to the participants. The talk included both flora and fauna as well as birds that nest on the Park. Participants were given printed material to follow up on the talk.


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14. Turtle Release and Five Lecture Groups

This year two turtles were released after being healed from their injuries. It is worth noting that another turtle returned to lay its nest in the exact location of the release, two months after. The last turtle that had nested on Malta was some 50 years earlier. Since the release always creates interest in children, it was a good opportunity to nce disseminate information when the children were gathered on the beach after the turtle release.


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The children were grouped and placed away from each other, and lecturers rotated with the groups. Topics discussed included Blue Flag, jellyfish awareness, lifecycle of turtles, wildlife on beaches and marine protected areas.


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15. Exhibition of the Wild Flora of the Maltese IslandsThe exhibition mentioned earlier was created to be assembled during certain events to instil awareness on the beauty of Maltas nature. It was assembled during World Environment Day, during an activity in a hotel at Golden Bay and assembled at the entrance of Auberge dItalie which houses the Ministry for Tourism and the Environment for World Tourism Day in h Environment, September.

The exhibition assembled at Radisson SAS Golden Sands


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St. Georges BayBlue Flag


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16. Deck of Cards: Wild Flora of the Maltese Islands

Back side of the Playing Cards Wild Flora of the Maltese Islands displaying Maltas National Plant

Front side of playing cards of Wild Flora of the Maltese Islands

A deck of cards of the Wild Flora of the Maltese Islands is another project that required significant effort to the last detail. The photos were taken over a long period of time and research was verified by Maltese botanists, linguistics and proof readers readers. The back side of the playing cards display Maltas national plant; The Maltese Rock Centaury, de accompanied by the Blue Flag Logo, the Malta Tourism Authority Logo and the Visitma Visitmalta cross. The front sides of the playing cards display a particular flora species found on Malta, nt with its Maltese name, English name and the botanic name. The Jokers are two species of thistles.


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The playing cards were used for specific flora activities as well as distributed as souveinirs to distributed adults and children. The playing cards were received well by all participants.

17. School Visit to the Malta Maritime MuseumThe Malta Maritime Museum hosts a variety of exhibits that are completely unknown to children living in rural, agricultural areas. This school visit had one objective, to teach these children about the coast, coastal and maritime activity and what life at sea meant to many , people over the years. The development of the sea crafts, benefits and hardship that the sailors endured on the open waters were also topics explained by the museum guide.

Museum guide leading the children around and explaining every detail


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18.Visit to Birgu- Historic Maritime City

Birgu, is an old historic city that housed the Knight of St John on their arrival in 1530. Grandmasters selected this city as it is a peninsula located in the heart of the Grand Harbour. From within this city they could be close to their fleet of galley galleys and could guard it well from its various vantage points around the coast. The knights built auberges and fortifications that still survive to this day. The city passed through hard times as it was on the forefront of every battle including Wolrd War II.


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Birgu, also named by the Knights as Vittoriosa, is now a beautifully restored city and hosts museums, palaces, churches and a magnificient marina. A group of over 100 . children was invited from two schools. One group started the tour from the main entrance of the city, Couvre Port, while the other group started from the seaward side and was guided in the opposite direction. They met for a short lunch break where MTA awarded book donations to th e schools and to the guide, then they continued on their way.

Books donated to the school

Books donated to the city expert and guide

19 . Wild flora and playing cards activity at St. Georges BayThe new park and gardens at Pembroke, St. Georges Bay has an amphitheatre in a shaded area ideal for activities. This event was the very first event that the park hosted. The children were each given a deck of cards exhibiting the wild flora of the Isla Islands. The children read the Maltese names and were given information about the habitat and other particular features of each species. The children were encouraged to take the cards home and together with their parents try to identify some of the flowers t that they encounter.Blue Flag Environmental Educational Activities 2012 Pauline dingliPage 26

20. T Shirt Painting Pembroke Park St. Georges Bay .Pembroke Park hosted again another activity explained earlier; a T shirt painting activity with dolphins, jellyfish, octopus and crabs as moulds. The children were asked questions about each animal, in the form of a quiz. This followed by the painting of T shirts, and while the T shirts were drying and the place was being cleaned, the children could entertain themselves on the new playing fiels of the park. Some also managed to get wet in the ed artificial waterfalls of the park.


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22. Waste separation activity at St. Georges Bay .Waste separation is a must on the managed beaches. Exercises were created for the classroom and fun activities with racing games were prepared for the beach. A maze was set out on the sand. The maze had clean waste objects to be recycled at one end and co coloured, labelled bins on the other end. Each team counted the points they managed to achieve with the recycled objects accumulated. Other games included the searching for cigarette butts deep in the sand.


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Advert posted on all noteice boards

Blue Flag Environmental Educational Activities 2012

Bugibba Perched BeachBlue Flag


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23. Animal Awareness Week : Outing to Funny Farm .Funny Farm is a charitable organisation which was established in 2008. Its main function is to provide shelter for abandoned, neglected or ill-treated horses. The treated majority of these horses have either been saved from being put down unnecessarily or have been donated to the NGO as unwanted pets. Funny Farm survives mainly on donations, contributions and sponsors. Besides horses, one can also find dogs, cats and birds. An educational outing organised as one of the Blue Flag activities was held on the 2nd s August on the Farm. 40 students from BKara summer school participated in this event. The students were shown throughout the stables and a brief description was given on how the horses are being fed and cared for. d The students had the opportunity to groom he the horses, and even take a short ride. Furthermore the students also gave a hand in cleaning the stables.


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24. Bugibba Perched Beach waste separation and litter pickingThe above mentioned activity Waste Separation and Litter Picking, that was held at St. Georges Bay was repeated with a different school, this time at Bugibba Perched beach where the children were also rewarded with a half an hour splash fun at Bugibba Water Park which lies only a few metres away from the beach.


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Children playing under the jellyfish and under the flowers at Bugibba Water Park


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25. Hands in ClayFollowing last years success with this event, it was decided that it will be repeated with another school, this time the amount of children was doubled, almost 100. Girls preferred to have their own tables, leaving the boys on seperate ones. They all followed the instructions that they were lowed given by ceramist Sue and worked hard to acheive the best results. Their works were held at the potters house to be fired in groups. They could not wait for the fireing and the teachers were eager to have the childrens work delivered. sFired clay

One of the girls tables during the workshop


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26. Villa Bologna Gardens Tour .

Children identifying and smelling different herbal plants

Villa Bologna is a century old villa with extensive grounds and landscaped gardens. Its owners were happy to host children and to show them around in an organised tour. The children may not appreciate the fine architecture but they were interested in the flowers, herbs, medicinal plants and pets that included chickens, dogs, cats, fish, frogs and others. An array of fountains and running water are also an attraction to the children.


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Children searching for fish and frogs

Buggibba Beach Library

25. Frog Signs ProjectThe Maltese frog and the Maltese Freshwater Crab are endemic species for the Islands and their habitats are protected. Children and parents are not all aware of the importance of conserving the biodiversity and are occasionally seen carrying faunal species in water bottles. Signs to mitigate this problem have been prepared, and awaiting permits, to be installed in valley entrances before the rainy season starts. Hopefully, children and parents will know that they are interfering with the delicate balance o biodiversity of and Mother Nature.


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The frogs signs were designed reader-friendly in animation. They portray a frightened frog being taken in a human hand while screeming for his mother. The sign says; I am not a toy, let me live in the water with my family.

Frog Sign


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Fond GhadirBeach of Quality


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26. Snorkelling Fond Ghadir

The above poster was publicised for a few weeks and on the day a significant number of persons turned up. However the activity had to be cancelled due to jellyfish present on the beach that day. All the work had to be done all over again for another event. The following event at Fond Ghadir was also snorkelling, this time with school children and Sharklab. Sharklab team were prepared with printed material, information, models and samples, snorkels and equipment for the children to enjoy. The children complained that the time that they had, about three hours, was too short. The shark eggs were popular as well as the different sized teeth displayed during the event. The children kept asking for more details.


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Girls measuring the length of different species of sharks

27.Beach Libraries

As in previous years the beach libraries were present on every beach as two more beaches received a book cabinet. The most popular books taken were the childrens books. Parents encouraged the children to take books while young teens were often looking for favourite titles.Fond Ghadir Beach Library


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28. Public Relations Projects 8.

The Beach Management unit invested in a number of initiatives to create more awareness towards the environment and the Blue Flag project. These initiatives included articles for a local magazine, articles for websites, two radio programmes and TV o programmes every week for five weeks. The choice of media was selected to target different social segments. Topics discussed included: Care for nature, Blue Flag, Butts free beaches, sustainable beach management and information on specific beaches.

Conservation of rubble walls and the historic corbelled huts


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29.Beach News 2012


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The foldable Beach News magazine was printed this year and left on every beach inside the book cabinets of the beach libraries. People were encouraged to take them and bring them back for re-use instead of disposing them use in the waste bin. Many preferred to keep them for further reference. The Beach News included a list of activities that were to be held, key points tasken from the Beach Code of n Conduct, news about the the new flags acheived for 2012, coastal heritage and finally a map indicating the location of the managed beaches.

Beach news on their stand


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Qawra PointBlue Flag


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30. Qawra Mask ParadeFor the Qawra Mask parade, the teachers were encouraged to work with the children the to create masks with the Care for Nature theme in mind. All classes came up with Care Nature different themes and were proud to bring them along and parade their work along the pathways of Qawra Point Beach. Some forty masks were produced and they enjoyed seeing each others work. Some explained how children ren can contribute to the Care for Nature theme. Many ideas came up and all were discussed briefly.


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31. Bird Park Outing QawraAnother event held during Animal ng Awareness week was a Bird P Park Activity. Salina Bay Bird Park boasts of several animals breeding and living in the open spaces of the park.

Hundreds of different birds in all sizes and colours can be enjoyed in their natural environment. The owners and carers of the animals call most of the bird and animals by birds name and the animals respond with effectionate gestures.


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32. Wasteserve lecture about what and how to separate beach waste .Wasteserve Malta representative, Doreen, was this year invited to talk to all beach staff regarding the end product that results from carefully separated waste. She encouraged everyone to treat beach waste as home waste since the system is in place to pro process it properly from the beach to the final product. The presentation that she delivered answered many question that the staff faced in previous years. Doreen also offered them assistance over the phone when they faced difficulties on the beaches.Wasteserve Malta representative delivering a presentation on waste separation on beaches asteserve

Pocket ash receptacles distributed on beaches

Qawra Point Beach Library


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34. Flora Exhibition for Science in the City, World Tourism Day and Notte Bianca

As part of the World Tourism Day Programme, The Malta Tourism Authority, in The collaboration with the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, organised a tree treeplanting ceremony at the Salini Park. Twenty restaurateurs participated by planting pine tree saplings as a symbolic gesture of a long term commitment towards a long-term greener environment.


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35. Flowers and Towers - desk calendar 2013

To disseminate information on the natural heritage of Malta, the beach unit and the communication unit teamed up to create a desk calendar for next year. It will deal with natural flora and historic towers in rural areas. The calendar will be distributed in d all local and overseas information offices of the Malta Tourism Authority. alta

First Draft of the calendar for 2013

36. Flowers and Towers Glass Coasters

With the same photos and artwork lines of the desk calendar, a set of glass coasters are being designed. The coasters will be ready for production and distribution by December.

THE END


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Documents

Blue Flag Environmental Educational Activities Report 2012