A proportion of 87 per cent of trees in Hal Lija are reportedly going to be transplanted, the Environment Ministry said in a statement on Friday evening.

In response to statements being made in the media, the Ministry and the Environmental Resources Authority “would like to clarify and confirm that all necessary permits were sought by Transport Malta (TM) for the uprooting of 24 trees and the transplanting of 161 trees on Triq Hal Luqa. Furthermore, it was decided that TM would plant an additional 108 trees as a counteractive measure for the uprooted 24 trees”.

Recently eNGOs such as Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar had slammed authorities for “the senseless destruction” of trees.

Once the relevant environmental applications related to infrastructural works on Vjal Santa Luċija are submitted by TM, the ERA will be evaluating the proposal by applying similar criteria. In evaluating these permits, the ERA takes all the measures available to it under the current Trees and Woodlands Protection Regulations to safeguard as many trees as possible. At the core of these decisions, the authority applies sustainability criteria that require one to see the environment in a holistic context, noting the adverse effects of traffic congestion on air quality.

“The Ministry and the ERA remain committed towards safeguarding our environment and are actively implementing various initiatives and projects.”

Malta has recently registered the biggest jump out of all EU Member States of Carbon Emissions. In response, authorities mused that the ongoing increase of cars on Malta’s roads has contributed to this.

“ The afforestation project in Comino—whereby 3,100 trees were planted; the investment of considerable funding for the implementation of management plans for Natura2000 sites; the 30 new Tree Protected Areas which were introduced last year; the doubling of the protection of existing protected tree and woodland areas in Malta; the efforts invested in growing adequate Maltese trees for use in afforestation projects; as well as new nursery equipment purchased by the ERA for PARKs to enable increased propagation and availability of native tree species through the growing of trees from seeds and cuttings obtained from local genetic stock are a few of the initiatives and projects which have been recently undertaken.”