A new garden featuring 900 indigenous wild plants, similar to ones that grew in the Neolithic period, has been opened next to the Tarxien Temples.

This initiative, launched on Tuesday morning by Heritage Malta and the Alfred Mizzi Foundation, marks the inauguration of another Ġnien Dinja Waħda, an educational garden for people to enjoy and learn about their cultural heritage.

The garden is situated near the complex of four megalithic structures, built in the late Neolithic period and repurposed during the Early Bronze Age.

It provides visitors with a unique combination of Maltese heritage and nature, featuring plants like olive and lentisk trees, which would have flourished during that era.

The Ġnien Dinja Waħda in Tarxien Photo: Christian Sant Fournier

Kenneth Gambin, curator at Heritage Malta, highlighted the cultural and ecological importance of the project.

“What we are doing today is preserving what we have, in this case, the cultural Neolithic heritage, with the site behind you (the temples) as well as the site we are on here (the garden), where we have more heritage to discover,” he said. 

The garden, designed sustainably, includes a freshwater pond, diverse wild indigenous plants, and a rocky area to simulate garrigue habitats. Special care was taken to ensure that archaeological remains beneath the site remain undisturbed, with the layout thoughtfully planned to balance preservation and accessibility.

The project was made possible through the sponsorship of the Alfred Mizzi Foundation. Foundation chairman Julian Sammut commended the collaboration with Heritage Malta, praising the institution for its professionalism.

“From the beginning, we found a serious and educated institution which was far from the madness and confusion we find in other sectors,” he said.

Sammut shared that the foundation has pledged to plant 500 trees annually and was, therefore, eager to support this initiative. He joked that finding places to do so is becoming more challenging. 

He encouraged other companies to follow suit by investing their profits into social and environmental causes.

This is not the first Ġnien Dinja Waħda.

Another educational garden, located in Għar Dalam, was developed with the assistance of BirdLife Malta. Like its counterpart, it offers children and families a chance to connect with nature and learn about Maltese heritage through interactive experiences.