Tree Protected Areas (27)
Britain is launching a national survey of all its tree avenues, to find out how many of the “stunning landscape features” it has, where they are and what state they are in. The National Trust estimates it has around 500 avenues, which were originally...
An apparent increase in shark attacks may well have a human cause, with low-cost air travel but also over-fishing and possibly global warming among the hidden suspects, say experts. Headlines during the week were grabbed by a decision to close beaches...
Was found off a Pacific island
This large area of salt steppes/clay slopes hosts interesting and relatively undisturbed communities of various trees of national and international importance. An interesting woodland is found at Rdum ta’ Kililu, characterised by various old...
The lappet is a large moth that is found in all of Europe as well as in northern and eastern Asia. It belongs to a large family of about 2,000 species known as the eggars, snout moths or lappet moths. The family is characterised by having...
Part of the valley bed of Wied Żembaq lodges a very old copse of the wild pear tree (lanġas selvaġġ), a very rare species with a restricted distribution in the Maltese islands and the Mediterranean. This population was already recorded in the 19th...
Swimming round and round in crowded cages, penned tuna become stressed and are duly medicated for it. This is a far cry from the torture of animals in testing laboratories which animal rights activists infamously oppose. On the environmental front,...
Project Aware, the international non-profit organisation mobilising divers to protect the ocean, has awarded Bubbles DiveCentre of Marsalforn third place in its Global Dive Against Debris campaign. The award was given in recognition of the efforts made...
Tree Protected Areas (24)
Red squirrels, hedgehogs and Scottish wildcats are among the British animals most under threat of extinction, according to a review of native wildlife. The examination of UK species suggests that birds including the cuckoo and turtle dove, as well as...
Thousands of workers, soldiers and volunteers fanned out across Sri Lanka yesterday began the country’s first national elephant survey despite a boycott by some wildlife groups. Hundreds of conservationists decided not to take part because of fears...
Wied Moqbol is a rocky valley with several species of trees, including the largest population of the very rare wild pear (lanġas selvaġġ), in Malta. It is also home to the very rare azarole (għanżalor), a threatened tree species with a restricted...
Maltese summers are characterised by high temperatures and lack of rain. Many plants survive this difficult time as seeds. This results in a dry brown countryside. Where it not for the thousands of trees that have been planted during the past 50 years...
This site comprises a rocky plateau that forms part of the valley sides of Wied il-Miżieb and Wied tax-Xaqrani. The largest population of the national tree, the sandarac gum tree (għargħar) is found here, with about 150 specimens – hence representing...
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon accelerated in June, with more than 300 square kilometres destroyed, a 17 per cent increase over the previous month, according to government researchers. The National Institute for Space Research said 312.6 square...
South African ministers hosting UN climate talks in December said the meeting must focus on keeping alive the Kyoto Protocol, the only binding global deal to cut greenhouse gases. “We don’t want South Africa to be the death of the Kyoto Protocol,” said...
The recommendation issued by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s Environmental Protection Directorate (EPD) regarding the Qala Creek project at Ħondoq ir-Rummien marks a red letter day indeed. I paraphrase from the report compiled by myself...
Most people have expressed relief that there have been fewer jelly-fish sightings this summer, which has in turn encouraged many to take the plunge. But is the absence of jellyfish a reality or just a perception? Alan Deidun, a marine biologist at the...
One world – Sustaining our future through protection
The valley sides of Wied il-Faħam include an oleo-ceratonion maquis community, with some of the largest specimens of the rare Mediterranean Buckthorn (Alaternu) found on the island. This community also includes typical maquis trees such as carobs...
Butterfly numbers and diversity reach their peak in June. After that month, the number of butterflies in the Maltese countryside start to decrease. By now, many species have disappeared and will not be seen again, until next spring. At the moment the...
The Ta’ Baldu and Wied Ħażrun area supports one of the four forest remnants of the Maltese islands, based on a small number of holm oak trees (ballut). Although the area has been vandalised in the early 1990s, the area is important for a number of...
A Malta-registered ship sank after colliding with a Panama-registered ship eight nautical miles South West of Pulau Pisang, Malaysia, last night. The 23-crew members of the ship, MV Oceania, were rescued by another ship, MV Ikaruga and taken to...
By next summer, 20 years will have gone by since the first EarthSummit held in Brazil. Already the world is gearing up to renew political commitments at the next UN conference on sustainable development to be held in June 2012. ‘Rio plus 20’ is seen by...
The University’s Department of English Students Association (Desa) recently ‘adopted’ a panda by donating money to the World Wildlife Fund, which is working with the Chinese government to implement a national conservation program for the giant panda...
Lufthansa and the Jülich Research Centre have launched an innovative climate research project for the long-term observation of the earth’s atmosphere using scheduled Lufthansa services, an airline spokesman said. The specially-developed measurement...
Tree protected areas (18)
The site, part of Wied il-Baruni in Marsascala, hosts one of the largest populations of the chaste tree (siġra tal-virgi), in the island of Malta. This tree species, more widespread in Gozo than Malta, is overall rare in the Maltese islands. The...
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