Summary
Filfla is a 6-hectare uninhabited islet 4.5 km off Malta’s southern coast, near Zurrieq and Buskett. It was a British military target range for decades. Today it is Malta’s most strictly protected island: a Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area, a nature reserve, and home to the largest seabird colony in the Maltese Islands. Landing is prohibited without a permit.
Timeline
- 1988
The Filfla Nature Reserve Act declared the island a strict nature reserve. Landing, anchoring, and overflight below 300 metres were prohibited without written permission. The law was a landmark: it turned a former bombing range into Malta’s most protected piece of land.
- 1970s
The British military stopped using Filfla as a target range. Unexploded ordnance remains on and around the island to this day.
- 1900s-1970s
Filfla was used by the Royal Navy and RAF as a target practice and bombing range. The bombardment permanently altered the island’s shape and topography, reducing its size and destroying a natural arch.
- 1343
A chapel dedicated to the Return from Exile of St Paul was built on Filfla by a nobleman named de Vassallo. It was deconsecrated in 1576 after the coast eroded and the bishop ruled it unsafe. The ruins eventually collapsed into the sea.
Context
Filfla is approximately 6 hectares (0.06 km²) - a flat-topped limestone platform sitting 30 metres above sea level at its highest point. It lies 4.5 km off the southern coast of Malta, visible from the Dingli Cliffs, Buskett, and Zurrieq. The surrounding waters are included in the protected area.
The island’s geology is upper coralline limestone overlying blue clay. The bombardment decades cracked and destabilised the rock, accelerating erosion. A natural sea arch collapsed in the 19th century. The island is slowly shrinking.
There is no fresh water, no soil to speak of, and no vegetation beyond salt-tolerant coastal scrub. What Filfla has in abundance is birds.
Wildlife and why it matters
Filfla hosts the largest seabird colony in the Maltese Islands. The numbers are significant in a Mediterranean context:
- European Storm-petrel (Kangu ta’ Filfla) - Malta’s largest colony and one of the largest in the Mediterranean. An estimated 5,000-8,000 breeding pairs.
- Scopoli’s Shearwater (Ciefa) - significant breeding colony.
- Yelkouan Shearwater (Garnija) - regular breeder.
- Yellow-legged Gull - large nesting population.
The island also hosts the endemic Filfola lizard (Podarcis filfolensis filfolensis), a subspecies of the Maltese wall lizard found only on Filfla. It is larger and more darkly coloured than its relatives on other islands.
The strict protection works. No development has been proposed for Filfla in living memory. The prohibition on landing, anchoring, and low overflight is enforced. The main threat is not development but climate: rising sea temperatures affect the fish stocks that seabirds depend on, and storm surges can flood nesting burrows.