Malta’s valleys should be regularly maintained to ensure that wildlife is protected and rainwater is collected without going to waste, according to a new NGO called Widien Artna.

The NGO, launched yesterday, is carrying out research to document valleys in Malta and Gozo and better understand their state, explained chairman Neil Azzopardi.

The research is being carried out by agricultural engineer Emil Moukarzel and architect David Xuereb. Mr Moukarzel said Malta’s valleys needed a holistic plan to ensure they were regularly maintained. This had to be based on research.

As one of its first initiatives, the NGO is asking that box gabion technology, used in Chadwick Lakes, be extended to other valleys.

Rubble walls were strengthened with box gabions, which look like metal mesh cages. These were built along the valley’s periphery to avoid soil erosion and allow water through without collapsing.

Flora and fauna were also allowed to flourish as they could live between stones. The project had stopped in 1998 when there was a change of government.

The Chadwick Lakes’ project, which started in 1996 under a Labour government, included the building of small dams so as not to lose natural water.

Labour MP Noel Farrugia, who was Agriculture Minister in 1996, and Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando are both members of the NGO and were present during the launch.