To date, 141 nations have endorsed the Declaration on Forests and Land Use formulated on the margins of the UNFCCC COP 26 meeting that was held last month in Glasgow, in a bid to stymie deforestation by 2030.
This impressive list of countries commendably includes Malta which, although not sporting any forest cover worthy of note, still harbours pockets of woodland and mature trees, which, obviously, need safeguarding. A litmus test is currently on the table to assess the resolve of the local authorities in complying to such a declaration endorsement, to walk the walk, as the lingo goes, to show that charity actually starts at home.
The Marsaxlokk local council has, in fact, submitted a planning application to relocate its currently inadequate facilities (consisting of just three rooms) to the gardens of the locality’s Sir Thomas More primary school, entailing the construction of offices, a public library and hall and a post office. The same proposals have attracted the opprobrium of scores of Marsaxlokk residents, environmental NGOs and even of a number of local councillors.
This despite the earmarked site having a within-development zone status (no ODZ uptake issues involved), despite the fact that the proposed new council amenities being sorely needed by the Marsaxlokk community and that any potential environmental impact will be mitigated through the ‘transplantation’ of trees and through the provision of an alternative garden space in the form of a public ‘roof garden’.
Despite all the goodwill in the world, the local council is literally mistaking the wood for the trees here. The planning proposal it has tabled envisages the uprooting of 37 mature olive, cypress, Judas, pecan nut and pomegranate trees, to be compensated by a complement of trees (14), which is less than half the current number, in a rooftop garden.
More importantly, the proposals will sound the death knell for a much-cherished green lung within the school grounds which is also highly relished by the broader community at Marsaxlokk. Obliterating a mature garden which has exposed, over the years, countless pupils to a semblance of nature and all its trappings within the setting of a school is downright counterproductive, especially at an age when a concerted effort is being made to instil the younger generations with a robust appreciation of the natural environment.
Just imagine what the same pupils’ reactions will be upon seeing the garden, which is probably seared in their collective memories as a place where to connect with the sounds, smells and sights of nature, being concreted over at the hands of the local council, which normally champions the rights of residents to access green open spaces within their own community.
And the ironies do not stop here. It transpires that the mature garden in question is affiliated to the Dinja Waħda programme operated by Birdlife in a number of schools, with the aim of exposing pupils to a modicum of nature without actually leaving the precincts of the school itself. Perhaps the mother of all ironies in the circumstances is the fact that Ambjent Malta is laudably investing €300,000 in 11 different localities through a series of urban greening projects, with neighbouring Birżebbuġa included within one of the localities in question.
The proposals will sound the death knell for a much-cherished green lung within the school grounds- Alan Deidun
Does it now dawn on anyone enjoying a strategic, horizontal view that it is deeply inconsistent and counterproductive to invest in urban greening (which invariably entails tree-planting, naturally) in one locality only to have the local council do away with a school mature garden in a neighbouring one? One of the objectives of the current urban greening impetus should also be to stave off the further loss of any mature trees within urban centres, especially when the same trees and green spaces are actively being used within educational programmes.
The local council has furnished residents with three ‘alternatives’ for siting the proposed civic centre amenities, all of which entail the uprooting of mature trees and, thus, these represent a Hobson’s choice. However, a truly plausible alternative does exist, comprising what is commonly termed a ‘win-win’ situation, given that no mature trees will be axed if this public, non-ODZ location is selected.
Transport Malta manages, in fact, a gargantuan car park right next to the Marsaxlokk football pitch which can easily house the proposed civic centre facilities. The same car park is highly accessible and siting the local council’s offices within it would definitely divert traffic away from the congested and parking-starved environs of the primary school.
The feasibility of this alternative site is so self-evident that the mind boggles as to why it has not been formally considered as a potential candidate, not even by those vehemently opposing the local council’s current proposals. Could this anomaly be due to the fact that some entity is currently milking the car park gravy train to finance its own activities and, thus, no one, especially those chasing each and every vote at Marsaxlokk, can afford to upset the current apple cart?
Thirty-seven mature trees (or 23, if one factors in the 14 trees to ‘embellish’ the rooftop garden) definitely do not constitute a forest, however, they do constitute a sense of place and identity and a green lung within an urban setting.
We should definitely be implementing our Glasgow promises at Marsaxlokk if we are to expect younger generations to actually start taking our solemn vows seriously.