Tree planting link to birth rate

The parliamentary secretary in the Environment Ministry, George Pullicino, intends to launch a programme in which a new tree is planted every time a child is born.

The programme would be carried out in collaboration with the Local Government Ministry and land for the project would have to be earmarked in every locality.

Mr Pullicino was speaking yesterday at the launch of Woodland Week and National Arbor Day, which is celebrated on Thursday. On the occasion, he participated in a tree-planting activity at the Council of Europe Garden in Gzira.

Trees were donated by the International Tree Foundation and students from Santa Monika, Dun Anton Manché and Antonio Bosio schools participated in the event.

Trees seem to be the focus of attention these days and, last week, Resources and Infrastructure Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said the Section for Parks and the Conservation of the Countryside was working on various projects, divided into urban and rural woods.

Speaking at the inauguration of an exhibition in Pembroke on afforestation projects on public land, for which the government allocates money every year, Dr Zammit Dimech said the section was currently working on woods in Pembroke and Mellieha, and other initiatives would be embarked upon in the near future.

It was cooperating with NGOs, including BirdLife, Din l-Art Helwa and local councils, as well as with the International Centre for Advanced Agronomic Studies.

The first phase of the Pembroke project started last March, with the levelling of the land for more accessibility to visitors. The amount of soil was increased and around 1,400 plants, including 24 species of trees and shrubs, mostly indigenous or Mediterranean, were planted.

Rubble walls were also constructed and a further 3,200 plants would be planted.

The Mellieha project, Foresta 2000, is being carried out under the Torri l-Ahmar over an area of around three square kms. The control of soil erosion was currently under way and indigenous trees would be planted. Din l-Art Helwa has also arranged an abandoned room, which would be used as an interpretation and information centre.

However, despite these initiatives and tree-planting activities, long-standing trees were still being uprooted, or felled haphazardly.

A case in point was the felling on New Year's Eve of two large olive trees, estimated to be at least 50 years old, in a street in the Gardens, St Julian's.

After years standing tall and providing a home to many birds, the trees came crashing down in the blink of an eye, despite the fact that they should be protected under Legal Notice 12/2001, the Trees and Woodlands (Protection) Regulations of the Environment Protection Act.

Olive trees fall under schedule II of the legal notice, which states that no one can or even attempt to fell or even damage them.

The law also forbids dumping, or dropping fuel, chemicals and poisons, among other substances, in the vicinity of these protected trees. Neither can anyone place combustible material near them.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority also has a voluminous policy on trees and shrubs.

Nevertheless, letters of complaint about the proposed development in the place of the trees seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

The Environment Protection Directorate, within MEPA, has said it is collecting evidence on the case and would be acting in accordance with Legal Notice 12/2001.

The Agriculture Ministry said it would also be looking into the matter.