Leading environmentalist Lino Bugeja, 86, passes away

Lino Bugeja was an environmentalist, a journalist and an educator

Lino Bugeja, a leading environmentalist and a former athlete and footballer, has died at the age of 86. 

Born in Birgu in 1930, Bugeja is best known for founding the Ramblers’ Association, an environmental NGO that organises treks and hikes through the countryside. 

Yet he spent his early years as an athlete, and in 1951 represented Malta in the first edition of the Mediterranean Games in Egypt in which he competed in the 400- and 800-metre races alongside George Bonello Dupuis, who would later become finance minister. He was also a footballer with his hometown club Vittoriosa Stars, before branching out into coaching with Hibernians FC, whom he coached to their historic 1967 0-0 Champions’ League game against Manchester United, the eventual winner of the competition.

In 1972, he co-founded the Educational Sports Centre with Father Hilary Tagliaferro, to train aspiring Maltese footballers. He spent several years as secretary general of the Malta Olympic Committee and in 1985 became the first director of the Maltese Olympic Academy.  

In his later years, Bugeja worked as a sports journalist and a cultural researcher, specializing on his hometown on Birgu. 

Yet he will be best-known for his work as an environmental campaigner – first protesting against the gradual closure of the countryside by gates, fences and ‘Keep Out’ signs before founding the Ramblers’ Association in 2005.

Very sad to hear about the passing away of Lino Bugeja. A genuine environmental voice, a rambler, and a historian -JM

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) January 10, 2017

“He combined his love of sport with his desire to safeguard the countryside for public enjoyment, and founded the association,” the Ramblers’ Association said in its obituary piece. 

Bugeja stepped down as leader of the NGO in 2010 and was named its honorary president, but remained active throughout the rest of his life. In 2015, he was given the platform to address the thousands of people who had turned up to protest against the development of Zonqor Point, the largest-ever environmental protest in Malta. 

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat led the tributes to Bugeja, describing him in a tweet as a “genuine environmental voice, a rambler, and a historian”. PN deputy leader Mario de Marco described Bugeja as a man “passionate about the things he loved, not least Malta’s cultural and natural heritage”, while Alternattiva Demokratika’s leader Arnold Cassola thanked him for “enhancing cultural, environmental and sporting awareness” in Malta. 

The Parliamentary secretary for sports, Chris Agius hailed Bugeja as the first athlete to represent Malta back in the 1950s, while the Malta Football Association also offered its condolences, and the Institute of Maltese Journalists praised his journalistic analyses on education, culture, sports and the environment.

The Ramblers’ Association hailed its founder as “amongst the first to become concerned about the fact that access to the countryside was becoming gradually denied to the public”, while one of its members Ingram Bondin described him as a kind man who demanded respect. 

“I have always been in awe whenever I have been in the presence of Lino Bugeja,” he told MaltaToday. “He was a person who commanded respect, because of his erudition, tenacity and selfless commitment towards protecting everything that is beautiful on our islands. He was also a very kind man, and his generous words of encouragement have always left a lasting impression on me. I feel as if we have lost an exemplary citizen and someone to whom one could genuinely look up to. I believe that the environmental movement will be living in his monumental shadow for a long time to come.”

Tributes to Bugeja also poured in through social media, including from marine biologist Alan Deidun who wrote that his legacy will live on for a long time in Malta and Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar leader Astrid Vella who described him as “an old-school gentleman who excelled at sports yet would reel off Shakespeare or Tennyson at the drop of a hat”. 

Lino Bugeja: In his own words

On the environment: 

“I am not a communist as I believe in private property, but I also firmly believe that the public has a right to access places of high landscape values. That is why Europe has freed itself from feudalism and is giving rights to the common citizen by recognizing such areas as common heritage.”

On rambling:

It is important for me to take walks in the countryside, as that way I can keep my finger directly on the pulse of the environment”. 

On the power of protests: 

“We believe in people’s power. Only when we organised mass protests did things improve. It was only after national protests like the one against the Ramla development that the authorities started moving”.

On ODZ development at the Zonqor protest: 

“Development on ODZ land is the greatest siege that Malta has ever faced, worse than the Great Siege of 400 years ago”

On politicians’ attitude towards the environment:

“Unfortunately, they often follow the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. No law is water-tight, and one can always find a loophole if that is your intent. There isn’t enough genuine love for the environment”  

On sports:

“But to be a real sportsman, you have to learn that one day you win and on another day, you lose. As well as satisfaction, there is disappointment in the field of sport, but that should not discourage anyone from becoming a true sportsman or sportswoman.” 

On the post-colonial Maltese mentality: 

“Some were afraid that Malta was going to go to the dogs [after the British left the island]. Instead we had a new dawn…we grew up mentally as we stopped being subjects.”