BIODIVERSITY AND HERITAGE OF PEMBROKE

Pembroke Local Council

-TRAIL

WELCOMEWelcome to the Pembroke Heritage Trail a site offering eco tourism, the beauty of the Mediterranean biodiversity and a unique walk in history that gives this site its name. Admire the colours of nature that change by months, enjoy the rich coastal marine ecology and appreciate part of the Military history these Islands have been through over the ages.

The Natura 2000 site in Pembroke is surrounded by highly urbanised areas cut off from the rest of the remaining natural habitats on the island, but a walk on site easily reveals its rich floral diversity. The presence of this vegetative biosphere is surely also one of the keys to the colonisation of fauna.

Project Co-Ordinator: Francelle Azzopardi - Malta Tourism Authority, Product Development Directorate Educational Material: Vincent Attard and Jeffrey Sciberras (Nature Trust Malta & Ekoskola Malta) Photo Credits: Vincent Attard, Leslie Vella, Alan Deidun, Glorianne Borg Axisa, Denis Cachia, Chris Cachia Zammit, David P. Cilia, Pamela Mason, Luca Pisani, Arnold Sciberras, Jeffrey Sciberras, Joe Sultana, Mark Sultana, Julie Tabone, Aaron Tanti, Matthew Borg Cardona

Acknowledgements: Nature Trust Malta, Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Armed Forces of Malta, Pembroke Local Council, Lands Department, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna

Rocky beach

Viewpoint Viewpoint

Copyright Malta Tourism Authority and Nature Trust Malta, 2013

Malta Tourism Authority, (\ILYNL+0[HSPL4LYJOHU[Z:[YLL[=HSSL[[H=3;4HS[Hwww.mta.com.mt

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GEOLOGY & FLORA

The natural landscape of Pembroke is covered by a great expanse of karst made from the islands hardest rock, lower coralline limestone.

This limestone erodes very slowly, but over millennia, the karst topography has become pocketed with small depressions, which have gradually filled with terrarossa soil, which in turn provides a habitat for communities of garigue and phrygana. Garigue is a habitat based on exposed karst land, colonised by low aromatic and spiny shrubs, accompanied by geophytes (bulbous plants).

Limonju Kbir | Large-leaved Sea-Lavender | Limonium serotinum

Bubie | Fennel | Foeniculum vulgare

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Kappara | Caper | Capparis orientalis

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the area is a haven for a good number of species of orchids and a refuge for two very rare species of shrubs

The Mediterranean thyme and the seaside squill are typical garigue plants at Pembroke. Phrygana, which is similar to a garigue, hosts larger shrubs and thus less exposed karst and soil. The Maltese shrubby kidney vetch, evergreen honeysuckle and shrubby wild olives are examples of phrygana species in this park. Pembroke also has a coastal community of plants since the karst stretches right up to the sea. On the other hand, abandoned agricultural land and areas with degraded garigues have become colonised by a steppe community. There are usually no shrubs in the steppe, just grasses and non-grass annual flowers. The majority of wild plants in Pembroke are typically common species found everywhere in Malta and in the Mediterranean, but the area is a haven for a good number of species of orchids and a refuge for two very rare species of shrubs (thorny burnet and the large-leaved sea-lavender) found nowhere in the Maltese islands.

Dubbiena Kala | Mirror Orchid | Ophrys speculum

Xagri Viin il-Kosta | Garigue Coastal Habitat

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Beul il-Baqra | Blue Stonecrop | Sedum caeruleum

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TERRESTRIAL FAUNA

Pembrokes garigue may look desolate from the lack of faunal activity, but this is far from being the case.

The wild animals that one may encounter are not larger than a rabbit, but with an array of creatures of all shapes and sizes, the Natura 2000 site is unmistakeably ecologically active. Arthropods (insects, arachnids, crustaceans, molluscs, etc) make up the majority of animals on site. Most are too small to notice immediately, but when looking under rocks and vegetation, you can see them clearly, especially in the summer months.

Kamaleojont | Chameleon | Chameleon chameleon

Bugeddum gir | Etruscan Shrew | Suncus etruscus

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Farfett taz-Ziju | Cleopatra Butterfly | Genopteryx cleopatra

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Furthermore, nocturnal creatures can be spotted trying to avoid the heat and sunlight, typically spiders, scorpions, ants, centipedes, millipedes, woodlice etc. In Summer, some species of snails climb and congregate in large numbers on top of the tallest fennel stems to get away from heat of the earth, and to feel the light breeze. Along the footpaths, one may disturb the tiny, but colourfully-winged grasshoppers that would normally be camouflaged on rocks or dry vegetation. A butterfly may cross ones path when walking near wild flowers. Larger animals are harder to spot, but easier to hear when they brush through the vegetation, especially reptiles, such as the ocellated skink. If youre lucky, you can spot a chameleon slowly moving on a branch, or a black western whip snake rushing under the shrubs. At night, life goes on, as hedgehogs and shrews come out to feast on the nocturnal invertebrates. A small bat, like the pippistrelle, might fly low to catch mosquitoes. In all, over 200 species of fauna have been recorded to date at the Pembroke Natura 2000 site.

Along the footpaths, one may disturb the tiny, but colourfully-winged grasshoppers that would normally be camouflaged on rocks or dry vegetation

Teleskopu | Cat Snake | Telescopus fallax

Farfett il-lejl tan-Nala gir | Lesser Horseshoe Bat | Rhinolophus hipposideros

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Qanfud | Vagrant Hedgehog | Ericanus algirus

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Snorkelling around the coast of Pembroke can be a way of how to explore this underwater world. The coralline limestone has abundant crevices and these provide the perfect habitat for small prey and illusive predators. Abundant shallow-water fish, which are coastal grazers, include several species of blennies (buullieq) and wrasses. Blennies are extremely slimy in order to escape predators.

MARINE SHORE LIFE

Life beneath the waves is not quiet, especially along the coast where it may be more chaotic than terrestrial life nearby.

anex tal-Fjuri | Fan Worm | Spirographis spallanzani

Posidonja | Posidonia | Posidoniaoceanica

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Gran tax-Xatt | Mediterranean Shore Crab | Pachygrapsus marmoratus

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Wrasses, which are generally larger and more colourful, are able to change sex for the benefit of their small colonies. A moray eel, a large predatory fish, may be lurking to hunt these types of fish. However, fish are not the only animals to be found in this habitat; there are many slow moving or sessile creatures, such as echinoderms (starfish, urchins and sea-cucumbers), slow-moving creatures that like to hang on to the rocks or the sandy floor nearby. These are quiet creatures, spending their lives filter feeding or smothering their prey very slowly. Sponges and anemones stay in one place for their entire lives; sponges are the most primitive animals on earth, consisting of a large bunch of cells that have to live together. Anemones are non-moving cousins of the jellyfish, with many tentacles waving to catch prey. More complex invertebrates occur along the shores, with a large array of molluscs and crustaceans. Several species of crabs and small shrimps reside in crevices or swim in open water nearby, accompanied by the slow marine snails, slugs and muscles. The docile species are always on the lookout for the predatory and very intelligent cephalopods, highly evolved molluscs like the octopi, squids and cuttlefish. Larger marine wildlife and many other species, especially of fish, reside further out along the sandy bottoms or Neptune grass meadows.

Rizza | Rock Urchin | Paracentrotus lividus

Qarnieta | Octopus | Octopus vulgaris

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Stilla amra Lixxa | Red starfish | Hacelia attenuata ippullazza | Red scorpionfish | Scorpaena scrofa

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Being an open area and close to the sea, Pembroke is also a good place for birdwatching

The garigue expanses might not be ideal for large birds like birds of prey or large water birds to land, since they often need the cover of trees or large bodies of inland water for a sense of security or for food. However, such birds can occasionally be seen by in small groups.

AVIFAUNA AT PEMBROKE

ojjin | Linnet | Carduelis cannabina

Pitirross | Robin | Erithacus rubecula

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Bagdan Amar | Marsh Harrier | Circus aeruginosus

Agrett abjad | Little Egret | Egretta grazett

Sturnell | Starling | Sturnus vulgaris

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Herons are frequent passers-by and often fly low. Birds of prey, such as the kestrel, fly higher, unless hovering for rodents. On the other hand, small birds enjoy the open garigue and steppe expanses because they can easily blend in along the grasses, shrubs and even on the rocky terrain. Many small birds are insect eaters, thus finding the open expanses a haven since it is bountiful with some types of insects. Some of these birds also readily accept and prefer this type of habitat as a breeding ground. Species which prefer these open spaces include thrushes, wheatears, wagtails, pipits, larks, starlings, swallows and particularly sparrows.

Many small birds are insect eaters, thus

finding the open expanses a haven

since it is bountiful with some types of insectsBuaqq tax-xitwa | Stonechat |

Saxicola torquataIsfar | Yellow Wagtail | Motacilla flava

Pespus | Meadow Pipit | Anthus pratensis

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ippu | Fan tailed warbler | Cisticola juncidis Kudirross Iswed | Black Redstart | Phoenicurus ochruros

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The history of Pembroke goes back to the time of the Knights of St John when the first watch tower was built by Grand Master De Redin in the 1600s. Today this is known as the Madliena tower.

In the 1840s the site started being used as a musketry camp for British Armed Forces in Malta. In fact, the locality was named by the British as they used this area as a training ground for their Forces.

HISTORY AT PEMBROKE

Torri tal-Madliena | Madliena Tower

Mogdijiet Militari | Military tracks

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Kamra militari tal-era Vittorjana | British Victorian Military room

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The site offers a variety of structures all related to the Victorian military era, from the ranges, to the military shelter rooms and marker rooms in the ranges themselves. Another feature is the military trail, which allowed the Victorian troops to move along the ranges; today this has been restored into the sites heritage trail. Pembroke is surrounded by buildings from the 1800s and 1900s, which can also be followed beyond the heritage trail. These include clock towers, barracks, cemetery, batteries etc.

The site offers a variety of structures

all related to that Victorian military era, from the ranges, to the military shelter rooms and marker

rooms in the ranges themselves

Fugass | Fougasse

Ranges

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Operational Programme I Cohesion Policy 2007 2013Investing in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Life

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