The Plant Protection Directorate (PPD) is the National Plant Protection Organisation for Malta. The Directorate is responsible for all plant health aspects of plants, seeds, plant produce and other propagation material that is produced locally, traded from EU Member States, imported or exported to or from Malta. The directorate is made up of a team of highly skilled public officers who are knowledgeable and passionate about protecting plant genetic resources against persistent and emerging threats of biotic and abiotic nature. The PPD works hand in hand with various entities to safeguard plants and their genetic diversity. The directorate is made up of Monitoring and Control, Laboratory Services, Business Administration, Conservation of Genetic Resources and Policy and Planning.
The Monitoring and Control unit keeps control of the import and export of plants and other plant material at the points of entry into the Maltese Islands, with the aim to prevent the introduction and spread of pests and diseases that affect the quality of plants. The control of pests and diseases is also done on local cultivation. Inspections are carried out at local nurseries and retail outlets to check for the possible presence of harmful organisms and to see that these commercial outlets are in fact complying with national and EU legislation.
The PPD a Project Partner (PP2) in the FAST project, within the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food, and Animal Rights (MAFA), will work hand in hand with the University of Malta (as another project partner). The interventions will be in collaboration with ERA and Ambjent Malta, all under the supervision of the University of Catania as the project leader.
The intervention of the PPD will be on three selected Natura 2000 sites, as these are the most fragile habitats in need of safeguarding. The three Natura 2000 sites chosen for this project around the Maltese islands are:
- The areas of Buskett and Girgenti
- Il-Magħluq ta' Marsaskala
- The areas of Xlendi and Kantra Valley in the island of Gozo
The role of the PPD within MAFA, in the FAST project will aim to counteract the introduction, naturalization and spread of alien invasive species that damage biodiversity in the Maltese archipelago by means of:
- Targeting and evaluating Invasive Alien Species in Natura 2000 sites,
- Controlling, Monitoring and possible Eradication of Invasive Alien Species
- Propagating native plants, that will later be introduced in the Natura 2000 sites
- Compiling guidelines and best practices to prevent the introduction of other Invasive Alien Species