From Children with Solidarity – Nature & the Environment

A beautiful apple tree in front of a cloud, illuminated by the radiant sun. The design is bordered at the bottom by wavy, ploughed ground with stones and seed. The name of the issuing state “Malta” and the year “2019” are shown at the lower left.

This 2-euro commemorative coin exists in two varieties. The 2-euro commemorative coins in the BU coincard were struck at the French mint in Pessac and carry that mint's mark and that of mint master Yves Sampo (MT-19 G5). The other coins carry no mintmark (MT-19 G4).

Despite its small size, Malta is an archipelago of remarkably diverse nature: the islands in the central Mediterranean are home to endemic plant species, important migratory bird routes, and a coastal landscape that has been under pressure from tourism and urbanisation for decades. Environmental and nature conservation awareness in Malta has changed markedly in recent decades - from a largely agrarian relationship with the landscape to a state-supported conservation approach featuring national parks, marine protected areas and education programmes. Agriculture, historically shaped by terraced fields and dry-stone walls, is regarded as part of the cultural heritage and symbolises the careful use of scarce resources on an island with no significant freshwater sources.

Malta's series "By Children, With Solidarity" builds on this relationship with the natural environment, turning attention to what future generations will inherit and shape. Nature and the environment are not addressed in isolation, but within the context of a broader societal discourse on sustainability and intergenerational responsibility - topics of particular urgency in Malta given climate change in the Mediterranean region. The Maltese 2019 2-euro commemorative coin marks this concern as part of the joint series, in which several countries participated, each with its own motif.