Many people visiting Comino only experience its busiest and most touristic areas, often unaware of the rich biodiversity found across the island’s fragile habitats. Yet Comino is home to a surprising variety of wildlife, from bats and hedgehogs to reptiles, pollinators, seabirds, and native plants that thrive within its unique ecosystem.
Over the past months, as part of Kamp Kemmuna activities supported through the National STEM Community Fund of Xjenza Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta has been carrying out biodiversity monitoring and citizen science activities around Il-Forn ta’ Kemmuna (the Old Bakery in Comino). The aim is not only to study biodiversity, but also to gradually transform the bakery into a educational and environmental hub where visitors, youths, volunteers, and researchers can connect with nature through hands-on learning.
Through the project, wildlife cameras, bat boxes, bird monitoring equipment, telescopes, and online biodiversity platforms such as iNaturalist were introduced and installed to support environmental monitoring and public engagement activities. During a guided wildlife walk held on Comino in March 2026, participants explored the surrounding habitats while learning about local flora and fauna, ecological monitoring, and the environmental challenges facing small island ecosystems.
During the walk alone, participants uploaded 52 biodiversity observations on iNaturalist, documenting 29 different species, including orchids, lichens, snails, pollinators, and endemic Maltese flora. These observations contributed to the wider ongoing biodiversity mapping effort through the Wild Kemmuna iNaturalist project, which encourages visitors and volunteers to document the biodiversity found on Comino and help highlight the ecological importance of this internationally protected area. The wider project has now surpassed 1020 observations and helped identify more than 226 species associated with the island and its surrounding habitats.
Citizen science played a central role throughout the project. By simply taking photos, recording observations, and uploading findings online, participants directly contributed to environmental data collection and biodiversity research. For many participants, this was also their first experience using citizen science tools to actively engage with nature conservation.Wildlife cameras installed around the bakery recorded the presence of hedgehogs, rats, reptiles, and birds, while water sources placed near monitoring areas helped attract wildlife and better understand species activity around the site. Bat boxes and bird monitoring infrastructure were also installed as part of ongoing habitat enhancement efforts.
One important lesson from the project was learning that ecological monitoring takes time and patience. Newly installed bird cameras and nesting infrastructure often require weeks or even months before wildlife fully adapts to them. Over time, however, encouraging signs began to emerge, including the successful occupation of a Blue Rock Thrush nest box installed through a collaboration on site with Merilli Malta Project.
Beyond biodiversity monitoring, the wider Comino Bakery initiative has also hosted other environmental and educational activities, including bat recording sensors, pollinator projects, air quality monitoring, solar cooking demonstrations, and environmental observations using drone technology to better understand vegetation health and hard-to-access cliff habitats.Most importantly, the project helped people reconnect with nature in a meaningful way. Spending time outdoors, observing wildlife up close, identifying species, and simply slowing down to experience Comino differently sparked curiosity and conversations among participants. Through the feedback collected after the activities, many shared that they felt more interested in biodiversity, astronomy, citizen science, and conservation, while also appreciating Comino beyond its usual image of beaches and summer crowds. Experiences like these remind us how important it is to create opportunities for people to connect directly with nature.
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The activities were part-financed by the National STEM Community Fund of Xjenza Malta, under whose remit operates Esplora Interactive Science Centre, on behalf of the National STEM Engagement Working Group.