A total of 185 pupils and teachers from 11 schools took part in an event entitled ‘ENO – Plant a Tree for Peace’ at Xrobb l-Għaġin sustainable development centre to learn about the importance of trees.
The event was originally planned to include the planting of trees as part of the Plant a Tree for Peace campaign coordinated by Environment Online – ENO, a global virtual school network for sustainable development. ENO made a commitment in the Rio+20 summit to plant 100 million trees by 2017.
However, due to persistent rain showers, the soil at the centre was waterlogged so no trees could be planted. Nevertheless the event went ahead in the picnic area where the pupils sowed over 100 seeds of native trees. The seed-sowing session was organised in collaboration with the PARKS directorate as part of the Life project ‘Saving Buskett’.
National Leaf coordinator Johann Gatt spoke to the pupils about the benefits of trees, the need to take more care of nature for present and future generations and the contrasting realities of today’s world with ongoing conflicts in several regions.
The pupils then attended presentations on water managment, the flora of Xrobb l-Għaġin park, the Life Med Green Roof Project, the use of cypress trees to control grass fires as part of the Cypfire project, and information about plant pests and diseases. Experts from the Civil Protection Department and Plant Health Directorate were also involved in these sessions.
The event was organised by Leaf Malta, which forms part of an international Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programme run by the Foundation for Environment Education and represented locally by Nature Trust Malta.