Paul Debono
Executive Director
Paul has lived in several countries including Switzerland, Denmark and the UK and is a University of Hull graduate with a degree in accounting with maths. He moved to Malta in 1990 for a summer holiday and stayed on the island ever since. He is fluent in German and he spent the first 11 years of his working life in finance and administration. In 2001 he joined Greenpeace Mediterranean as Finance Director and later becoming Executive Director. This gave him extensive experience working at international level within the NGO field. He left Greenpeace Mediterranean in 2005 to take a year out and work in IT related issues culminating with a job as General Manager for a German IT firm specialising in wireless networks.
A former rugby player he is also involved in the restoration of classic cars and continues to keep himself up to date on IT issues when he is not in the field looking out for birds. His first contact with BirdLife Malta was as a volunteer in the spring watch and raptor camps. He applied for the position of Executive Director and was appointed in January 2011.
Nicholas Barbara
Conservation and Policy Officer
Nicholas graduated with a BSc in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Malta, followed by an MSc in Conservation and Biodiversity from the University of Exeter in Cornwall in 2006. His research work focused on studying the ecology of the Ghadira Nature Reserve and the introduction of alien mollusc species in Malta.
He has since worked as a demonstrator and part-time research assistant at the Department of Biology at the University of Malta and as an ecologist and coordinator with a local environment consultancy firm, specialising in environmental impact assessments. His interest in developing a career in ecology and conservation started at an early age, prompting him to join BirdLife Malta as Project Manager for Malta’s largest conservation project – the EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater Project in 2009. Now the project has ended Nicholas has taken aboard various conservation and policy issues.
Lara Schranz
Dinja Wahda Project Manager
Lara graduated with a B.A in European Studies from the University of Malta. She spent her first working years in a private financial institution focusing on trust law and financial management. She is also actively involved in the human rights sphere working on project management, research and consultation. Lara is very interested in conservation and the environment, and believes that education is our strongest tool for nature protection. This is why she got involved with Dinja Wahda, Malta's largest environmental education programme for primary schools.
Victoria Caruana
Administration / Membership Officer
Victoria has been working for BirdLife Malta for the past 16 years and she is lovingly called “Central Command”. She is a key person in the day-to-day running of the BirdLife Malta office. Before that, she was almost entirely dedicated to the upbringing of her two children and occasional voluntary work. She has a very cheerful, outgoing personality and a good sense of humour. The only thing that sparks her anger is cruelty to animals, which is probably why she has spent all these years dedicated to BirdLife Malta.
Mandi Bennetti
Finance Officer
With a background in hospitality and corporate services, Mandi joined BirdLife Malta in 2009 aiming to contribute by ensuring the accounts are kept in order and EU projects are administered in line with EU requirements. Apart from handling the organisation’s finances and HR, Mandi administers the EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater project and the EU LIFE+ Project on Bird Migration and Trapping.
Ray Vella
Ray has always had a passion for birds and since 1973 has been a member of the Malta Ornithological Society, then BirdLife Malta. During the period 1978 until 1985 he was living abroad, in Canada and Germany, where he continued his favourite hobby, birdwatching. His other great interest, that of trees led him to become the Foresta 2000 Ranger in 2004 where he has managed to combine both his hobbies into one, that of providing a typical Mediterranean Forest, where trees and shrubs can grow, and attracting birds in all seasons to rest and breed. The area will eventually cover 104 hectares of land, three times the size of Buskett, where one will be able to see for himself how the island once was, greener and more attractive to birds!