Environment Minister Leo Brincat has appealed for more prudence after the savage pruning of trees lining St Ġorġ Preca College, Ħamrun, caused public outrage.
It was the school’s headmaster who gave the green light for the pruning, as some of the trees were growing into the classroom windows and becoming potential hazards, sources told Times of Malta. The gardener pruned the trees excessively to ensure a two-year gap before another pruning session would be required.
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo intervened and stopped the pruning after being alerted by Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar’s coordinator Astrid Vella.
Within the coming days, the Education Ministry will be issuing a memo to all precinct officers and heads of schools to be more prudent with tree protection to avoid another repeat.
The memo advises that, when in doubt, school heads should consult with the foreman of the gardeners.
Environmentalists deplored the excessive pruning of trees, expressing concern that it has become “the order of the day”, especially following the revocation of the 2001 tree protection law by a legal notice in 2011, which effectively removed the protection of all trees in urban areas.
The Environment Minister did not have any enforcement officers to protect the trees
Pruning is a necessary practice to maintain a mature tree in a healthy, safe and attractive condition. Excessive pruning, however, may weaken a tree by removing too much leaf area and food reserves stored in the stem, and rendering it vulnerable to disease, insects and storms.
Environmentalists also questioned the actual role of the tree committee set up by the Environment Ministry last May.
In a statement sent to Times of Malta, the ministry said it was unfair for the onus to be placed on the committee for the preservation of trees.
While highlighting that the ad hoc committee’s role was purely consultative, the ministry added that its members had been given considerable input in addressing the deficiencies in the current legislation through their ideas and suggestions.
They have also offered analysis of the extensive consultation on the subject carried out by the ministry over the past months, through public meetings, online and social media channels.
In the coming weeks, the ministry will be moving from the consultation stage to the implementation of necessary measures, “intended to redress, among others, the deficiencies inherent in the 2001 legal notice that proved to be a setback for the preservation of trees rather than a step forward.”
A campaigner for the better protection of trees, who preferred not be mentioned by name, outlined the fragmentation inherent in the responsible bodies – noting that, nevertheless, no one claimed responsibility.
Transport Minister Joe Mizzi is responsible for the Environmental Landscapes Consortium, which has often been criticised for such pruning. This ministry encapsulates landscaping and trees in public urban areas.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority, under Parliamentary Secretary Michael Farrugia, is the body responsible for the environment.
The Government’s plan is to separate the authority’s planning and environmental arms.
Local councils often also commission “landscapers” to prune trees – and, the campaigner added, it seems that most of this work was being done without any prior approval from anybody.
Ms Vella expressed her disappointment that the person most knowledgeable and dedicated to the protection of trees had been transferred from Mepa.
She added that the Environment Minister did not have any enforcement officers to protect the trees.
Trees lining up a garden in Mellieħa and another in Valletta also suffered the same fate.