Malta’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2012-2020.

Malta’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2012-2020 (NBSAP) is the country’s response to its international commitments under the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). The NBSAP it’s a multi-sectoral strategy and plan with national coverage to be implemented during the 2012-2020 period. The NBSAP serves as a national policy driver to further integrate biodiversity concerns into the plans, programmes and policies of those sectors, which are beneficiaries of ecosystem services and or that may affect Malta’s biological and natural resources. The NBSAP provides a comprehensive policy framework for protecting biodiversity in the Maltese Islands. It also aims at improving the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, as well as by reducing pressures on biodiversity and promoting sustainable use. The NBSAP highlights the importance of biodiversity for food security, and it will seek that distinct plant and animal genetic resources for food and agriculture are conserved as a genetic insurance in the face of environmental and climate risks as well as for food security.