Buġibba Skateboarding Youths Kickstart Project To Plant Trees In Locality’s Urban Areas
A group of skateboarding youths are spearheading a movement to make Buġibba green by setting up an initiative to plant trees in the locality’s concrete areas.
In an effort to bring Buġibba closer to nature and dispel the negative stereotypes surrounding skateboarding, members of the Buġibba Skatepark have come together with local residents to start planting trees.
“We’ve planted four trees on various roads and six trees at the skatepark where we plan to create a small green area,” Rudy Dorekens, a member of the Malta Skateboarding Association (MSA), told Lovin Malta. “Buġibba has no green areas.”
The mini project is being carried out in collaboration with St Paul’s Bay Local Council and local residents, who bear some of the responsibilities for taking care of the trees.
“The council is providing the plants and members of the MSA are planting them. It is then up to the residents in the area to make sure the trees are kept clean and watered,” he continued.
It was inspired by a similar project carried out by the local council and Infrastructure Malta in which they planted 100 trees on the locality’s waterfront. Now, trees are being planted in more strategic, urbanised areas to bring back some greenness to the concrete jungle.
“We are looking for more places to plant trees. We want local residents to contact us and send us a photo of where they think trees can be planted. We will then coordinate with the council,” he said.
So far, the skateboarding association has recruited two local businesses to help maintain the trees in the areas, but with a desperate cry for more greenery across the island, there’s no doubt many more will be supporting their cause.
However, the initiative is also an exercise to dispel the stereotypes that surround the skatepark community and the misplaced notion that they are a nuisance to society.
“We are doing this for the benefit of having more greenery but also to show that skateboarding can co-exist with everyone else,” Dorekens said.
The skateboarding community fought tooth and nail to erect a skatepark in the area last year and continue to campaign for a bigger area for youths to practice the sport alongside an urban park for people to enjoy as well.
“If we’re able to accomplish so much now, imagine what we can do with a proper park and facilities,” he ended.
The vision is to create a park in the heart of Buġibba where people from all walks of life can enjoy whether it be for practicing a sport or enjoying a stroll, similar to that of Hyde Park in London or Vondelpark in Amsterdam.
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