WATCH | Ta’ Qali: More mass events would make regeneration useless, expert says

The grass will grow back one day at the Ta’ Qali Family Picnic area, but if the park’s management insists on hosting more mass events in the area, all regeneration efforts would be rendered useless.

This was Jonathan Henwood’s take on the Ta’ Qali Family Picnic regeneration efforts. Henwood is a respected arborist, academic and environmental consultant, and he had already shared his thoughts on the matter with MaltaToday in September.

Back then, he explained that a lot of the damage suffered by the land in the picnic area stems from hosting mass events. When such an event is held in the area, the soil clumps up under people’s weight and the grass struggles to grow. If these events continue next year, the soil and sand will still compact under people’s weight, and the original problem will remain.

“One needs to decide what this space will be used for,” Henwood said. “If we’re going to go back to hosting mass events that squash the sand and soil, this effort would have been for nothing. We need to keep this space for picnics and family activities, not concerns and heavy machinery.”

Jason Micallef, the former One chairman who now heads the national park, this week insisted that the area will continue to be used for mass events like Earth Garden, Summer Daze and Farsons Beer Festival. He told Times of Malta that there are better facilities in the area now to allow these events to take place.

Green grass, white sand

Last summer, park management placed a layer of sand and gravel across the picnic area to try and rehabilitate the soil and eventually encourage grass growth. It’s not a bad solution, but the strong contrast between the green soil underneath the trees and the sterile white sand taking up most of the area caused an outrage in September and remains a controversy today.

“Maybe we’re not used to seeing this expanse of white,” Henwood said while walking through the picnic area. “There’s a stronger contrast from when we last came. The areas with soil have more grass growing.”

There are more patches of grass now than there were in September, but Henwood warns that the full regeneration will take a long time. “We won’t have the same amount of grass that is growing under the trees. The grass that will grow will probably be different, such as more niġem or hubbejż.”

His bigger concern is water. Grass will only grow if rain comes to water the earth. If that doesn’t happen, the land will have to be watered artificially.

“That concerns me. A few months ago, a report showed that Malta is no longer semi-arid but has become arid. Rainfall has decreased, our water sources are always decreasing. Watering the area artificially might not be too sustainable.”

What’s for sure is that the family picnic area will not look like a lawn anytime soon. “It will be patchy, some grass will grow in some places, all depending on the rain and heat in the winter and spring. The more time passes, along the years, it will grow a bit more.”

So, while the grass at Ta’ Qali will indeed grow, it will take a while, it will probably be patchy, and if it doesn’t rain, it will put pressure on our water resources.