Ministry defends Buskett works

The environmental NGO Nature Trust (Malta) said it was disappointed at the resumption of works that were "insensitive" to the ecology of Buskett.

The NGO said it had seen signs of the removal or pruning of bay laurel and a few scattered remaining saplings of Holm Oak which are both protected trees located within a protected site.

Il-Bosk, a special part of the reserve, is protected under the Antiquities Act and its trees are described as "national monuments". Here, ivy was removed from rubble walls, it said.

Nature Trust insisted that only manual clean-ups of the area should be undertaken and that the undergrowth should not be regarded as a garden-like environment but allowed to regenerate naturally without "cleaning".

A spokesman for the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Environment rebutted claims that the works were insensitive, saying the intervention was designed to upgrade the environment in the area after it had been abandoned for years.

The spokesman added that the ministry would stand by a previous reply it had given to comments made on the works by another NGO, BirdLife Malta.

On that occasion BirdLife had drawn attention to what it claimed was the cutting and pruning of trees and clearance of vegetation at Buskett that was causing "irreparable harm" to the woodland habitat.

The ministry had rebutted the claims saying the work being carried out was technically correct.