The environment ministry has lauded itself for planting 35,600 trees and shrubs in various parks and sites across Malta and Gozo last year. 

Those trees are the government’s first contribution towards an EU-wide goal of planting three billion trees by 2030, Environment Minister Miriam Dalli said. 

Dalli was speaking at an event at Majjistral Park to promote MapMyTree, a web application launched by the European Commission to allow individuals, businesses and governments to register newly planted trees. 

She said that Project Green -the new state agency that will lead the government’s €700 million push to develop green open spaces in urban areas – will also be planting 7,500 indigenous trees as one of its first projects. 

Dalli was joined at the event by Ambjent Malta director Josianne Muscat, Ambjent Malta general director Herman Galea, Environment and Resources Authority CEO Kevin Mercieca and Parks Malta director general Adrian Attard.

While the government and state agencies announce tree planting totals each year, they are less forthcoming when asked to provide information about their upkeep. 

Last year, Infrastructure Malta told Times of Malta that it did not have data available about the number of transplanted trees that had survived, despite it being legally bound to maintain such trees for "at least three years".