120 indigenous trees were planted at Buskett, Malta. In an event organised by the National Stakeholders committee of the LIFE project- Saving Buskett on behalf of the PARKS Directorate, 120 students from 6 schools planted; carob, oak, olive, pine and bay laurel at Malta’s main woodland.

The trees planted will form part of a wider initiative of an international NGO - ENO - Environment Online which is present in more than 150 countries through a virtual network of educators. ENO has made a commitment at the UN RIO+20 Summit of planting 100 million trees by the end of this year and the campaign has been running for the past five years.

The students also had the opportunity to engage in various hands-on educational sessions led by experts on various aspects of the woodland including: forest fires; woodland lichens; tree identification; scavenger hunt; the countryside code; tree age, girth and height and also plant pest control.

One of the highlights of the event was definitely the short tour around this unique and beautiful woodland. The PARKS Directorate has embarked on a very ambitious LIFE project; Saving Buskett. The project is co-financed by the EU LIFE+ Funding Programme under the Nature and Biodiversity priority area. The project commenced in July 2013 and is expected to be completed by May 2018. Since the project is at an advanced stage, the students could admire the meticulous work done by the PARKs personnel in the careful removal of alien species the building of rubble walls and reforestation by planting of indigenous trees.

The event was organised with the support of; Nature Trust FEE Malta, BirdLife Malta, Plant Health Directorate, Maths Support Unit, Civil Protection Department, Argotti Botanic Gardens-UOM, Ms Jennifer Fiorentino.

Further info can be obtained from: http://lifesavingbuskett.org.mt/
Interested schools in Malta can book a visit to Buskett by contacting Mr Neville Ebejer on email john-neville.ebejer@gov.mt to make the necessary arrangements.