The Gaia Foundation is opening the doors of its Elysium Visitor Centre and Nursery this weekend to raise awareness about endemic and indigenous plants and their importance in the Maltese landscape.
The centre in Għajn Tuffieħa serves as a living platform from which the foundation promotes the use of plants, which have adapted well to the landscape and climate, therefore needing relatively low maintenance.
Beyond the heritage argument, in fact, local plants usually require far less water than many alien ones. This makes them ideal even for public and private gardens, which should be based upon the Mediterranean Garden type.
Plants are divided into a number of categories, like the endemic, which are specific to the Maltese Islands, indigenous, that are specific to a region, like the Central Mediterranean, and archaeophitic, which have been introduced to the islands and have become established and naturalised.
Then there are plants categorised as alien, that is not considered to form naturally part of the Maltese landscape. Some of these could actually be invasive and can cause some serious damage to habitats because they compete strongly with native plants.
Plants are also divided into trees, shrubs, grasses and creepers, among others, and may each form part of different habitats, which can range from wooded areas to maquis, garrigue, water courses, saline marshes, rocky shorelines and clay slopes.
Therefore, besides being local, the right plants are ideally placed in their own habitats. The Maltese islands’ coastal landscapes feature a large part of the natural heritage and, consequently, form the bulk of the protected Natura 2000 sites, which, in turn, are part of Europe’s collective heritage.
Proper management of these sites would not be possible without a supply of indigenous and endemic plants, many of which are hard to propagate and, therefore, difficult to find.
The Mediterranean buckthorn, for example, has been propagated after many attempts over a number of years. It is at the top of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s list of recommended trees and can form part of woodland or maquis. The same goes for the lentisk. The wild thyme and the caper bush are familiar parts of the Maltese landscape but are extremely difficult to propagate.
Throughout the open weekend talks will be given on the cultivation of olive trees, how to plan an olive grove for best cross pollination and production, how to prune the trees, how and when to pick the olives, how to filter the oil, which varieties of olive trees to use and how to deal with pests like the olive fly. Olive oil tasting will be available throughout, using Gaia’s own prize-winning organic olive oil.
Discounts of up to 20 per cent will be offered on native plants, olives and olive oil during the open weekend.
Gaia’s Elysium Centre is situated just above Golden Sands. It will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 9.30 a.m. until 4.30 p.m.
More information can be obtained on: 2158 4474 or via info@projectgaia.org/www.projectgaia.org.