Wied ta’ Għajn Żejtuna is located within the settlement boundary of Santa Marija Estate in Mellieħa, flanked by villa development along most of its length. Formerly part of a much wider system, the valley is now limited to the valley-bed proper –which sustains a permanent freshwater spring – and its banks.
The constant source of freshwater flows from the Mellieħa perched groundwater body at the interface between the Mtarfa Member (Tal-Qawwi) and the Blue Clay formation.
The watercourse flows along the coastal rocky platform beneath Ix-Xatt ta’ Santa Marija, which, apart from maritime garigue, also contains a small shingle beach.
Part of the valley side supports a semi-natural woodland consisting of mature Aleppo pines (Pinus halepensis Mill.).
This particular valley is the only known locality in Malta for the extirpated Red Flax (Linum decumbens Desfontaines), a species that has a restricted distribution in the Mediterranean.
Mepa scheduled Wied ta’ Għajn Żejtuna, the coastal platform and the semi-natural pine woodland as a Level 2 Area of Ecological Importance. The scheduling was published via GN No. 872 of 2009, dated October 30, 2009.