In 2015, the government announced plans for a scientific study on a dilapidated valley around the Three Cities, promising a rehabilitation project in a “timely and adequate manner”.

Eight years, a valley management master plan and tens of thousands of euro later, Wied Blandun remains neglected: a dilapidated dumping ground for construction and household waste.

And, in an exercise that is looking into the state and status of abandoned areas around Malta, Times of Malta has learned that Wied Blandun is in for… further studies.

Wied Blandun is the only natural area in Fgura and one of the few remaining open spaces in the Three Cities area. It runs below the bastions forming part of the Cottonera Lines and the drowned valley system of the Grand Harbour area.

But it remains degraded and is one of several other valley systems that Parks Malta says it is working on regenerating and maintaining.

Scheduled for its scientific and ecological importance, parts of the valley have been ruined by years of dumping of hazardous grit-blasting waste from the shipyards.

The government had allocated €125,000 for a scientific study in 2015 before deciding on the interventions to rehabilitate the area.

However, an environment ministry spokesperson said that before the implementation of Park Malta’s valley management master plans, “additional studies” are required, “including groundwater contamination, ecological investigations and an analysis of sub-surface water contamination”.

These studies will “pave the way for further planning, permitting and contracting of the environmental regeneration works in this valley, to enhance the area’s biodiversity and contribute to the formation of new recreational open spaces”, she continued.

No time frame was given.

“Based on earlier studies conducted by the Kunsill Konsultattiv għan-Nofsinhar ta’ Malta (KKNM), the master plan envisages the removal of alien species near the dam, the planting of indigenous species to create increased afforested areas, the removal of contaminated material on identified areas within the site (decontamination), as well as the formation of recreational areas.”

Wied Blandun is just one of several potential green areas across Malta that have been left neglected.

Fridges dumped under trees in a valley that is scheduled for its scientific and ecological importance.

Marsascala’s second largest national park, Inwadar, has also been abandoned.

A ministry spokesperson insisted its regeneration was “in progress” by the work of no fewer than three government entities: Project Green, Parks Malta and Ambjent Malta.

The formation of a new picnic area was “advancing rapidly”, the spokesperson said. This will be located in part of the site previously earmarked for the American University of Malta development, now incorporated in the park, at the edge of its boundary.

And, like Wied Blandun, more studies are promised.

This year, Project Green and Ambjent Malta will focus on the new section of the park, starting with “detailed surveying to identify the required restoration works and planting areas for new indigenous trees and shrubs”, the spokesperson said.

A management plan brief for Inwadar was prepared as far back as 2016 and work was meant to start in 2019. But there has been scepticism about the slow afforestation progress.

Wied Blandun is just one of several potential green areas across Malta that have been left neglected

Last year, the ministry said, the park was “enriched” with the planting of 1,180 indigenous trees and plants, while 6,000 kilos of invasive alien species of plants were cleaned from the area to help restore the habitat to its natural state and create new planting areas for indigenous species.

It also referred to Ambjent Malta’s restoration of a 257-metre stretch of rubble walls and the removal of tonnes of material dumped in the area before it was designated a national park in 2016.

In 2022, Environment and Energy Minister Miriam Dalli had announced that seedlings for 50,000 trees would be planted by Parks Malta, which was carrying out a management plan for the land’s different agricultural, private and leased areas.

Trumpeting the €20 million afforestation project to have a wood in the south of Malta, Dalli had said she wanted to see the “ambitious but feasible” 315,000-square-metre area, which would include trekking paths and picnic spaces, completed.

Parks Malta says it has also been working on the regeneration of several other valley systems in Malta, such as Wied iċ-Ċawsli, Wied il-Kbir, Girgenti, Wied Qirda, Wied Għajn Riħana, Wied il-Għasel and Mistra, in line with the same master plans, the ministry said.