Many of us experience Chadwick Lakes as a recreational area, where they can go with their families during the weekends and take long walks along the valley, while giving their children the opportunity to play around.

Since in the Geography option syllabi we are bound to take our students on a field trip at least once a year, it was decided, together with the administration of St Theresa Girls' Junior Lyceum, Mriehel, to take the Form 3 Geography students to Chadwick Lakes. The main idea of this trip was to link the fieldwork with the "Clean Up the World" 2003 campaign. This enabled the students to perceive Chadwick Lakes from another perspective.

The proper name of Chadwick Lakes is Qlejgha Valley, which is part of a series of river systems in Malta. In fact Qlejgha Valley starts from Liemu Valley in Buskett, Busbies Valley in Mtahleb, Ghomor Valley in Bahrija and continues to Fiddien Valley. The system then proceeds to Qlejgha Valley, just beneath Mtarfa and Rabat and carries on to Speranza Valley and Ghasel Valley in Mosta, ending in Salina Bay.

This complex system is characterised by various features typical of Maltese valleys, including the types of rock, flora and fauna, rubble walls and also agricultural areas. Qlejgha Valley is also famous for the building of the first dams and impoundments in Malta, built in 1886 by Sir Oswald Chadwick (after whom the valley is named) to provide a better water supply.

In preparing for this field trip I tried to link as much as possible the two aspects of Chadwick Lakes: the natural and physical features together with the human influence. The "Clean Up the World" campaign at St Theresa JL was slightly different from the usual idea of a cleaning up operation. Our campaign was not conducted in a specific area around the school just to pick up rubbish, but we tried to move a step further. Here the aim was to educate students by their observing vandalism by themselves and being able to judge its consequences and what can be done to reduce it.

With the help of this fieldwork, I and the teachers who accompanied me - Ms Therese Vella (a geography teacher at our school) and Mr. Christian Formosa (a student teacher) - tried to make students aware of how human interference is harming this natural patrimony. Cleaning up Malta means not only that we do not have to throw rubbish outside but also that we must conserve natural areas for future generations.

During our walk in the Chadwick Lakes area, apart from doing various experiments that are included in the Geography syllabus, both students and teachers could observe a high rate of vandalism. Besides numerous waste materials like old mattresses, machinery tools, tanks and wooden boxes dumped in the channel and the surroundings, one could clearly see chemicals in the water.

Chemicals cause water pollution and help the process of killing the few freshwater fauna such as frogs and freshwater crab. Such species are being endangered and only a few can be spotted nowadays compared to a couple of years ago. Furthermore, pollution of fresh water lessens the supply of water, which is already a problem in Malta.

However, the harm to physical features is not only restricted to the dumping of waste and pollution of water; rubble walls are also being destroyed. These should be taken care of, even though sometimes they are ruined by natural causes. Given that rubble walls are part of our natural environment we should be responsible enough to make good the damage done by natural hazards like heavy rainfall.

Soil erosion is also increasing because rubble walls helped to preserve soil in fields. Since these rubble walls are being ruined, soil is easily eroded by wind and rain. Also, soil which is transported by wind or water to passageways, is lost by the pressure of car wheels.

I believe that this lack of interest in vandalism against the natural environment is the result of lack of better education on the subject; consequently we fail to appreciate it. It is important to continue having these valleys as recreational areas where one can value the typical Maltese environment and at the same time enjoy relaxation but on the other hand we need to lessen the negative human urge to spoil.

We should all take part in educating and teaching our students to respect and value the physical environment around us. The "Clean Up the World" campaign is a stepping stone for creating more activities where students can observe and be critical about what is happening around them.

If the syllabus would be lessened the students would have more opportunity to take part in such activities and Geography would be easily associated with the environment around us.

Ms Falzon is Geography teacher at St Theresa Girls' Junior Lyceum, Mriehel.