A new NGO, Widien Artna, was launched this afternoon and will focus on lobbying for the regular maintenance and rehabilitation of Malta's valleys.

The NGO is currently carrying out research to document valleys in Malta and Gozo and to better understand the state of the valleys, explained chairman Neil Azzopardi.

The research is being carried out by agricultural engineer Emil Moukarzel and architect David Xuereb.

Mr Azzopardi spoke about the importance of regular maintenance of  valleys to ensure that flora and fauna were safeguarded and water catchment was maximised.

The NGO will campaign to increase public awareness about the protection of valleys, improve storm water management, stabilize eroding valley walls and improve public access to valleys.

Labour MP Noel Farrugia and Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando are members of the NGO and were present during the launch in Rabat.

Members of the media were taken to Wied il-Qlejgħa, within Chadwick Lakes, where a valley rehabilitation project had started in 1996. The project included the installation of box gabions by the sides of the valley.

Box gabions look like boxes made of a metal mesh filled with rocks that resemble rubble walls. They allow water to seep through and fauna and flora to live between the rocks that are held together by the metal mesh.

Mr Farrugia, who was the agricultural minister in 1996, said that such systems should be extended to other valleys in Malta.

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