Nature Trust (Malta), the environmental NGO, has thanked the public who supported – in considerable numbers – the activities organised to promote a greater awareness of the importance of wooded areas and indigenous plants in our country during the activities of the International Week of the Forest.

The activities were carried out with the Argotti Botanic Gardens section of the University of Malta and Alternattiva Demokratika Zghazagh.

Between 23 April and 1 May, the public visited the following locations to see the efforts being made to provide more wooded areas:

Nature Trust’s nursery of indigenous trees in Lija at the Plant Biotechonology Centre, where indigenous and rare trees and shrubs are grown for future afforestation projects.

A guided tour of the Argotti Botanic Gardens of the University of Malta, where visitors could appreciate the work being done in regard the to conservation of rare species such as the sandarac gum tree and the holm oak.

An educational walk around Nature Trust (Malta)’s Wied Ghollieqa Nature Reserve – a successful showcase of how an area can be changed into a woodland of indigenous trees. A separate activity at the nature reserve was dedicated to children.

An educational walk at Wied il-Ghasel, Mosta, organised in conjunction with Mosta local council, where the children could appreciate the value and beauty of a typical Maltese valley.