About the Foundation
The Mediterranean Institute Of Marine Studies Foundation is a voluntary organisation established in Malta and registered under the number VO/0845. Our work concerns the study, understanding and responsible stewardship of the marine environment, and the sharing of that knowledge with the public.
Who we are
The Foundation is a non-profit voluntary organisation based in Tas-Sliema, Malta. It operates as an institution concerned with marine studies: the observation, documentation and interpretation of marine environments, and the communication of marine knowledge to students, educators, coastal communities and the wider public.
Malta sits at the centre of the Mediterranean basin, and the relationship between the islands and the sea is practical as well as cultural. The Foundation exists to support that relationship with knowledge rather than assumption, and to make marine information accessible in plain language.
Organisational purpose
The purpose of the Foundation is to advance public understanding of marine environments and to encourage responsible, informed behaviour towards them. This purpose is pursued through study and documentation, educational material, public awareness work, and cooperation with individuals and groups who share these aims.
Our approach to marine studies
We treat marine study as a long-term and cumulative activity. Useful knowledge about a coastline or a habitat is built through repeated observation, careful recording and honest reporting of what is known and what is not. The Foundation therefore prefers modest, verifiable work to broad claims.
Where the Foundation publishes information, it distinguishes clearly between general environmental knowledge, material produced by others and properly referenced, and observations made under the Foundation's own activities.
Education and public awareness
Marine knowledge is only useful when it reaches people who can act on it. The Foundation's educational work is directed at making marine subjects understandable without diluting them: how coastal habitats function, why biodiversity matters, how everyday activity affects the sea, and what responsible use of marine resources involves.
Environmental responsibility and community
The Foundation regards environmental responsibility as a shared obligation between institutions, communities and individuals. Its community work is intended to open marine subjects to people who live and work beside the sea, including young people, educators, divers, fishers and coastal residents.
Commitment to responsible information
The Foundation does not publish figures, results, partnerships or achievements that it cannot substantiate. Sections of this website that are prepared for future material are presented as such. This is a deliberate editorial policy: credibility depends on accuracy over time.