An application has been filed to plant some 700 trees in Ta’Qali.

The application was filed by Ambjent Malta, and according to the public application form, the site is currently a bare field, with a site area of 7,149 sqm.

Environment Minister Jose Herrera said that this project is part of the afforestation projects government is currently undertaking.

He explained that even Ambjent Malta, who are handling the project, have to go through the Planning Authority application process.

He said that Ta’Qali is a national park, and as such afforestation projects occur there. He said that there are larger afforestation project elsewhere, such as near Kennedy Grove, where in October or November, around 14 Tomna of land will be part of an afforestation project.

He said he is also working to find a large piece of land, to be able to conduct a major afforestation project.

The trees set to be planted include 50 Judas trees, 30, Italian Cypress trees, 100 Strawberry trees, 150 Chaste trees and 150, Sandarac gum trees, amongst others.

Recently, government also announced a new set of regulations relating to the protection of trees and woodland areas.

The new regulations follow on what was already in place as per regulations implemented in 2001 and 2011, and they provide additional protection to more species of trees; stipulate that interventions on trees must be conducted by licensed tree specialists; add in additional criteria and processing fees for environmental permits; and also add administrative fines for infringements with a penalty scale that varies according to the species and the gravity of the offence..

The new regulations almost double the amount of species under protection and make stipulations to protect all trees in Outside Development Zones, green areas and urban public open spaces, the latter being the biggest change from past regulations.  Furthermore, trees which are over 50 years old will also be protected, as will 60 wooded areas across Malta and Gozo.