The first trees in a project to effectively double the size of a national park in Ta’ Qali have been planted in the area.

Workers from Infrastructure Malta and Ambjent Malta planted 115 cypress trees on rehabilitated land just off a road in the central locality.

Cypress trees are hardy, coniferous trees which tolerate dry conditions and poor soils. A Mediterranean species of the tree can grow up to 60cm a year reaching heights of up to 35 metres tall and can live for up to 1,000 years.

The planted trees will be watered and cared for by Infrastructure Malta for a five-year period.

Plans to develop a massive park in Ta’ Qali were unveiled by the Prime Minister in the spring, just before the European Parliament elections.

Authorities have pledged to plant 80,000 trees in the site, which will then be managed by Ambjent Malta.

The park, Dr Muscat had said, would see 52,000 square metres of land previously used by a concrete factory turned into a green area. A further 150,000 square metres of parking space will also be improved.

The Prime Minister and other dignitaries at the project launch in May. Photo: DOI/Jason Borg

Enlarging the Ta’ Qali national park is estimated to cost €20 million.

One News chairman Jason Micallef, who is coordinating the Ta’ Qali park project, was quick to highlight the cypress planting on Facebook, thanking authorities for their work.

The government has come under increased scrutiny from environmentalists in recent months for their plans to uproot mature trees as part of nationwide road widening projects.

The most controversial of those projects, a Rabat-Mrieħel widening project dubbed the Central Link, will see around 550 mature trees uprooted and a further 237 transplanted.