A massive afforestation project is set for Inwadar National Park near Żonqor Point, after Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced plans to turn the area into a Buskett in the south of Malta during the budget speech.

It is expected to cost somewhere around €20 million and will be completed within five years. 

The announcement comes just weeks after a group of 24 local architects and engineers released a proposal for a similar project in the area.

While Caruana was coy on details, the group proposed planting 40,000 indigenous trees in the park which stretches from Marsaskala to Xgħajra.

The site covers 315,000 square metres, mainly consisting of abandoned agricultural fields and disturbed foreshore. The area is already supported by a readily available source of irrigation in the form of polished water from the Ta’ Barkat sewage treatment plant found on the edge of the site.

Artificial afforestation in Malta is nothing new as the islands lack natural forests. Back in the 1960s, an afforestation project was carried out successfully in the Mizieb limits of Manikata, Mellieħa, which is now Malta’s largest woodland area covering 650,000 square metres.

Inwadar was designated a national park five years ago in 2016, but it has become very dry. It is now home to around 1,000 trees, hopefully the project will increase that number substantially. 

What do you think of the plans?