22 years later, Malta alone in not ratifying European Landscape Convention

Malta is officially the only country among 39 original signatories of the European Landscape Convention to have not ratified and incorporated the treaty in its laws. 

Maltese officials keep dragging their feet on ratification of the Convention, which is enacted by the Council of Europe. Although no panacea to the overdevelopment crisis in Malta, it does set a legal framework to value, manage and protect landscapes, and this is not limited to outstanding views but also to neighbourhoods. 

But 22 years after Malta signed the convention, the Environment and Resources Authority – which was tasked with spearheading the process leading to the ratification – is still conducting its assessments. 

When asked by MaltaToday to state whether there are any obstacles to ratification, an ERA spokesperson simply replied that “the relevant assessment is still ongoing on this matter”. 

What is sure is that there are no international objections to Malta becoming party of the convention. “Malta will be welcome when national authorities decide to ratify the Convention,” Maguelonne Déjeant-Pons, executive secretary of the European Landscape Convention, told MaltaToday. 

The Superintendence for Cultural for Heritage, which often cites the country’s obligations under the Convention when objecting to overdevelopment, is also being consulted in this assessment process. But a spokesperson for the SCH confirmed that its role in the process is that of “a consultant” and it is not the official body responsible for the ratification process.  

The SCH annual report for 2020 refers to the fact that Malta is now the only country to have signed but not yet ratified the European Landscape Convention. According to the report, discussions have so far focused on the resources required by the entities responsible “for the continuous reporting and monitoring” after ratification and on whether legal changes are required. The SCH was also seeking a recognition of “underground cultural landscapes” which although not visible from the ground, also merit protection.  

Malta was one of the original signatories in 2000 but failed to ratify the Convention in 2010. Iceland, which signed the convention in 2012 had proceeded to ratify it in December 2019, leaving Malta the only signatory not to have ratified it. 

People at the heart of the convention 

The Convention is considered revolutionary as it recognised that local, everyday and even degraded landscapes are as likely to be of importance to the communities – or cultures – who inhabit them or the people who visit them as those which are commonly labelled as globally important.  

One salient feature of the convention is that of putting the people at the heart of landscape policy. 

A major innovation is the definition of “landscape quality objectives”, meaning, for a specific landscape, the formulation by the competent authorities of the aspirations of the public with regard to the landscape features of their surroundings. The European Landscape Convention obliges signatories not just to protect protected heritage buildings, but to respect the wider cultural landscapes and the collective memories of people who inhabit them.  

The Convention sets great store by identifying and assessing landscapes through field research by professionals working in conjunction with local inhabitants. Each landscape forms a blend of components and structures: types of territories, social perceptions and ever-changing natural, social and economic forces. Once this identification work has been completed and the landscape quality objectives set, the landscape can be protected, managed or developed. 

Parties to the Convention undertake to provide legal recognition for the value of landscapes, to ensure that participatory procedures are put in place to establish and implement protective policies, and that landscape is integrated into land-use planning policies.  

Moreover, committees of experts appointed by the Council of Europe are “responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention”.  

In practical term, the convention is also reflected in legislation adopted by signatories. For example in 2004 the Catalan parliament approved a law for the protection, management and planning of all the territory of Catalonia: both to the natural, rural, forest, urban and peripheral areas and to singular landscapes such as every-day and degraded landscapes, whether inland or on the coast. 

The Landscape Observatory was set up as an advisory body of the Government of Catalonia in landscape matters. It issued landscape catalogues which identify different landscape units understood as areas which have the same landscape character, which are a reflection of the natural, cultural, historic and symbolic diversity to be found in every corner of Catalonia. 

This was done following public consultation with the people living in these landscapes. Subsequently the protection of these landscapes is integrated in the region’s town and planning regulations. 

In 2004 the Planning Authority had taken steps to fulfil the requirements of the Convention by conducting a landscape assessment study which had identified that over 51% of the Maltese Islands had high or very high landscape sensitivity. This led to the designation of more areas in Malta as “Areas of Landscape Value”.  

But experts still noted shortcomings when it came to broadening landscape management and protection with regards to seascapes and “everyday and degraded” landscapes.