The Mizieb woodland, the Ta’ Qali National Park, the Wied Ghollieqa afforestation project are rare attempts to make our environment a bit greener by planting a good number of trees.
But they all pale into insignificance when compared to the Buskett Woodland which was conceived and planted almost 500 years ago by the Knights of St John.
It is absolutely pathetic that after all those years, Buskett still remains the most ambitious environmental project ever undertaken in Malta. Since then, no government has even come close to beating the Knight’s achievement!
Buskett Forest was conceived as a hunting ground for the reigning Grand Master and his noble friends; and many a Maltese must have looked at their overseers with loathing as they slogged hard to work on something they would never be allowed to enjoy.
Fortunately, we are the lucky ones, reaping the fruit of our ancestors’ toil hundreds of years later. However, if something is not done to protect the place, it will certainly not last another 500 years.



Malta’s favourite picnic area
 Decent picnic areas are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Illegal closure of many country paths leading to prime picnic areas in Selmun, Bahrija and Imtahleb; encroachment by rampant urbanisation and lack of conservation of sites such as Kennedy Grove (which is fast becoming a dump) and il-Mizieb (which was handed over to the hunters), are forcing thousands of people to flock to Buskett from late Autumn to early Spring.
There, one can observe entire families embarking on the noble art of tadpole hunting and preparing open-air eating sprees that have reduced the upper parts of the forest where wood is plentiful to a disaster area full of broken and burnt branches!
Human influence has become the greatest threat to the Buskett ecosystem as people and children splash through the freshwater streams; litter the ground, pick flowers and bay laurel leaves without restraint.

The people’s place
The wooded picnic area below the parking area is a favourite haunt with crowds that visit at weekends. To many Maltese people, the idea of a relaxing picnic among the trees is an alien concept and they insist on dragging all the paraphernalia of home—radios, deckchairs, compact tables, portable cookers, barbecue sets—to make themselves more comfortable in the wild.
Deafening disco music and the playful screams of children echoing through the ancient pine trees will dash any dream of communing with nature or enjoying a quiet stroll through the woods.
Most of the trees have been reduced to goal posts by children, while parents gossip freely, thankful that once a week they can let their offspring run wild. Maltese parents are amazing: the absolute lack of discipline they have over their children is legendary and they will let them do anything to get them out of their hair: chop branches, pick flowers and inedible fruit, and trample over fields. Sometimes you can see parents pointing towards the flowers they want picked for the mantelpiece and for once, the children obey their wishes.
The majority of families do nothing except sit down, listen to Italian football commentators, sip coffee and mess up the place with packets of juice, empty plastic bags and chocolate wrappers.
By Monday, Buskett is a dump!
The fault is not entirely their own. For a so-called Bird Sanctuary, Buskett Forest is woefully understaffed and a strong air of neglect permeates the whole place.
A couple of gardeners from the Department of Agriculture take care of the orange groves, while the authorities seem to think that a rich and varied ecosystem that covers acres of clay-rich land can protect itself against the Maltese hordes!



Soil loss
Lack of upkeep and maintenance of almost every public garden, park and enclosure on our island has become an endemic problem. But in Buskett this is compounded by soil erosion.
The Knights knew quite a bit about the geography and geology of the area they wanted to develop into a woodland. They knew water flowed through Wied il-Luq due to a clay layer that held underground reserves of rainwater and supplied a permanent freshwater spring. This was capable of providing the small forest with a supply of water in summer.
Abundance of clay can also be a disadvantage during the rain season, when the water-table overflows and torrents of water fall upon the valley sides sweeping away large amounts of soil. The Knights solved this problem by buttressing the terraces with sturdy rubble-walls and keeping them in good repair.
During the last 10 years, some of the rubble walls enclosing the waterway in Wied il-Luq have collapsed, scattering large stones all over the waterway. Nothing has been done to clear the waterway and rebuild the fallen walls, which are allowing a lot of soil to escape from the surrounding fields. The same problem is affecting the woodland below the parking area and, higher up, the terraces just below the short cliffs.
Climbing up the terraced fields towards the highest part of the forest will reveal many toppled trees. The soil at the base has become so thin that it cannot support the trees’ weight any longer and they are collapsing. The torrents of water that fall in winter are systematically sweeping away tonnes of topsoil loosening the trees' roots and making them unstable.
A close look will reveal the remnants of rubble walls that once buttressed the larger trees and prevented the soil from spilling into lower terraces. The gross dereliction of these walls and the soil loss are threatening the largest and oldest of trees, which, after all, are what the Buskett Woodland is all about. Nothing has been done to protect the trees, some of which are hundreds of years old.
If the gardeners employed by the Department of Agriculture cannot cope with the problems of soil erosion and deforestation, an expert should be engaged to study ways of conserving the area and suggest viable solutions to the problems. The government has adopted a habit of appointing an "expert" for every little thing; so why not for the upkeep of Buskett?
A couple of wardens could be a good deterrent against dumping and vandalism, particularly on weekends. A picnicker aware of a prowling warden will think twice about littering, picking flowers, destroying trees, catching tadpoles and indulging in general environmental mayhem. The authorities will also make some money off Buskett and, maybe, might even use the funds to save Malta’s greatest environmental project: the Buskett Woodland!