Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1446843
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 JANUARY 2022 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt Born into Birdlife… In some respects, BLM's anniversa- ry it also something of a 'birthday' for yourself, personally. Apart from having been a member for so long, and its CEO since 2015… your father, the late Joe Sultana, was among that NGO's original founders. Surely, you must have seen this organisation 'coming together', al- most from the very beginning… One thing I often say, is that I was prac- tically 'born into Birdlife'. Because even if I was actually born almost 10 years lat- er… I remember council meetings tak- ing place in my living room. I remember having to clear out all my toys, and all my stuff… because 'dad and his friends' were going to meet for discussions. And I recall heated discussions… and 'happier' discussions… and I was always eavesdropping. As a child, I was curious: what were these grown-ups discussing, that seemed so important to them? Of course, as I got older, I started be- coming more interested in the dynamics of the discussion itself. And that is what also prompted me to first go out into nature, and experience it first-hand. Be- cause they were talking about things like the first setting up of the Ghadira Nature Reserve; Salini, Simar… and I wanted to see these places, with my own eyes… And I did. As a child, I was there when they started excavating the soil at Ghad- ira… when the first birds started arriv- ing… that was my weekend routine, at the time. So yes, I did see Birdlife, in its initial years. Having said this, my own active in- volvement – and especially, my more re- cent role as CEO – that all came later… We have similar memories, on that score. I, too, was a young 'MOS' mem- ber, at roughly the same time. This also means that we have both seen a truly remarkable change taking place in Malta, since those years. Let's face it: 30 years ago, people like us were regarded as… fanatics. Almost insane, quite frankly. 'Weird people who are obsessed with snails and butterflies'… Yes. And 'lizards', too. 'U int, mohhok fil-gremxul' is something I've been told a lot, in fact… Precisely. But it has changed, hasn't it? I remember an interview with your fa- ther, for instance, and he talked about his own childhood background… as a trapper, in Gozo… and how people simply 'couldn't understand' how he would change his views. How much of this perception change, would you say, is down to Birdlife's own educational message, over the past 60 years? Well: you mentioned my father; but I also have to take my hat off to all the people – including dad; but there many others – who had the foresight, and the vision… and who worked so hard, as volunteers… to make Birdlife what it is today. I have to send out this message of respect; this appreciation… but then, of course, it transforms into a responsi- bility for myself, and for my generation. They gave us a 60-year legacy; and now, we have the responsibility of looking for- ward to the next 60 years. But yes: education was always one of our major pillars. And the transforma- tion we see today.. it comes from vari- ous factors. We know, from science, that 'experiential learning' – going into Na- ture; seeing Nature first-hand, and un- derstanding it through contact – is what will ultimately get our children to feel, and think, and be empathetic towards Nature. You cannot truly learn about 'butter- flies', just from a lesson in class. You have to see a butterfly; see a caterpillar; understand the connection that exists between those two things… and then, by extension, you get to understand what 'pollination' means, and why that but- terfly, and that caterpillar, are also con- nected to ourselves. But the biggest lesson that experiential learning teaches us – and I ask people out there, to try this out for themselves: go out into Nature, and ask yourselves… How do you feel? What is state of mind, right now? Do you feel peaceful? Calm? And… why do you feel that way? It's because we ourselves are part of Nature. We are human beings; we are living organisms. We are not designed to spend all day in an office; surrounded by artificial light, and artificial sound… we are products of nature; and we have to be in nature… we have to find that balance. There is, however, another aside to that equation. Public awareness has clearly improved; but has our treatment of na- ture really changed all that much? Is the damage we are doing today, better or worse than it was 60 years ago? Well, this is the scary part about Mal- ta: because in some respects, things have certainly improved. If you only look at bird conservation … in the 1960s, there were barely any regulations at all. Things only started moving in the 1980s; and gathered impetus when we were discuss- ing joining the EU. That was when the real changes started happening; because there was suddenly a whole set of Euro- pean Directives, that we had to conform to… But at the same time… Nature's foot- print has been decreasing, drastically. And I might add that human beings are increasing drastically, as well. We need to understand, then, that this might have an impact: not just on nature itself; but also, on the wellbeing of our own soci- ety. Because nature is, at the end of the day, an indicator of our own health. We need nature, as much as nature needs us… So the transformation you are talking about comes from many factors: and one of them could very well be the educa- tional campaigns conducted by Birdlife Malta, and other similar NGOs. But part of it is also down to the loss of Nature itself. Nature is decreasing; and because of that, people are now appreciating it more. For example: I have never seen, at any point before the last five years, so much outcry over the cutting down of a tree. And rightly so. We need to understand the difference between cutting down an Birdlife Malta celebrated its 60th anniversary last Tuesday. CEO MARK SULTANA looks back, at an NGO which almost literally started out in his own living room…