BirdLife Malta and Din l-Art Helwa insisted this afternoon that the proposed new Ghadira road will cut through Phases 2 and 3 of the Foresta site, contrary to claims by Transport Minister Austin Gatt.

"The proposed road cuts through Phases 2 and 3 of the Foresta 2000 project area, and runs adjacent to the boundary of the Phase 1 area where thousands of trees and shrubs have been planted by the site managers and the public and for which thousands of euros have been donated by both individuals and companies," the NGOs said.

"Austin Gatt's statements show that his understanding of Foresta 2000 is that it simply involves tree planting, whereas in actual fact Foresta is a conservation project that includes farmlands, restoration of habitats such as garigue, and creation of Mediterranean woodland habitat." said Tolga Temuge, Executive Director of BirdLife Malta.

"Furthermore the Ministry's recent statement that "the garigue is by definition the lowest grade of natural habitat in our islands" is shocking as the garigue habitat in question is one of the reasons why this area is designated as a Special Area of Conservation under the EU legislation." Mr Temuge continued.

Foresta 2000 is a project managed by BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Helwa and the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs. The project area covers about 104ha, an area three times the size of Buskett. So far over 16,000 trees and native shrubs have been planted by schools, several companies, groups, and individuals. A number of scarce or rare shrubs are also being planted in the area to help them spread. Areas of degraded garigue are being replenished with spurges and Mediterranean thyme, the NGOs said.