An estimated 45,000 trees, saplings and shrubs will have been planted by the government during this year alone, according to Environment Minister Jose Herrera.

Moreover, he said that efforts were underway to encourage afforestation projects on privately-owned properties and in industrial zones.

Dr Herrera outlined his ministry’s plans during a news conference on Monday marking the rehabilitation of the former Ghaddafi Gardens in Paola, which spans an area of more than 30 tumuli.

As part of this project, 13,000 shrubs and indigenous fruit trees like pomegranates, figs, and black mulberries are being in planted in areas which had been left neglected. Furthermore, an irrigation system is being installed for the first time after it transpired that most of the existing trees were at risk of dying from drought.

Afforestation in Salini, Comino and Bengħajsa

The Environment Minister noted that apart from this project, an afforestation project is under way in Comino, while others are in the pipeline at Kennedy Grove in Salini and Bengħajsa in the limits of Birżebbuġa.

13,000 shrubs and indigenous fruit trees like pomegranates, figs, and black mulberries are being in planted in areas which had been left neglected

Dr Herrera added that government would be rolling out incentives for afforestation projects on privately-owned land. He also announced that a memorandum of understanding would be signed in the near future for the planting of trees in industrial areas as part of an urban greening project.

While most of the trees being planted are grown locally, the minister said that efforts were underway to import mature indigenous Mediterranean species from countries like Turkey and Greece.

Garden from a bygone era when Malta-Libya relations in their heyday

Inaugurated in the early seventies, Ghaddafi Gardens was originally named after the former Libyan dictator Muhammar Ghaddafi to mark the close ties between his regime and Dom Mintoff’s Labour government.

However, following the 2011 uprising, the park was renamed Mediterranean Gardens. Nonetheless, Dr Herrera noted that a marble plaque commemorating the planting of a tree by the Libyan dictator, would be restored.

The garden was inaugurated in the early 1970s and named after Muhammar Ghaddafi to emphasize the close relationship between Malta and Libya. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

For many years, the garden which is adjacent to the prison and to Malta’s only mosque was left neglected, and more often than not a place for abuse.

Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Parnis said that the project would complement the Paola Square embellishment, through a new entrance linking this garden to the centre of the locality.

There are also plans to build a bridge over Triq Kordin, in order to link this park to the campus of the nearby Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology.

He said that government’s objective was to popularise this recreational spot in the southern part of the island, which many did not know existed.