Education Minister Dolores Cristina has inaugurated the third phase of the Wildlife Garden at St Theresa College Girls’ Secondary at Mrieħel. 

BirdLife Malta’s Wildlife Garden project in secondary schools took off at St Theresa in 2003 as a pilot project to increase biodiversity in urban areas and bring students closer to nature. Utilising an unmanaged, vacant part of the school grounds, the project has transformed a derelict area into a wildlife-friendly site where students can observe and study Maltese flora and fauna, or simply relax in natural surroundings.

College principal Dr F. Fabri together with officials from the Education Directorate and Colleges walked through a garden planted with indigenous species such as lentisk, araar, carob and judas trees. The project’s success in attracting wildlife was evident from the frenzy of activity around the garden’s bird table, as breeding Sardinian warblers and wintering robins pecked at crumbs left by students of the school’s Green Club. 

In the third and final phase, a reading area has been created in a section of the Wildlife Garden; this consisted of a number of landscaped drystone enclaves that can accommodate a class for a reading session in a peaceful and natural setting. The structures are non-intrusive, honouring the project’s aim of harmonising nature with human needs. Prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony which opened the new area of the Wildlife Garden, Minister Cristina commented “I hope that the students participating in this project recognise this as a potential start to a beautiful career”, and went on to give the examples of studies and work in ecology and conservation. Maintenance of the garden has been carried out by students of the Green Club currently taking part in an activity programme, also part of the pilot project.