In Malta, it’s quite impossible to miss the wood for the trees: the smallest member state of the EU is also the country with by far the lowest proportion of green cover in Europe.

A total of 41 per cent of the EU territory is covered by trees, forests and woods, according to new statistics published by Eurostat yesterday.

So it’s no wonder the Maltese have to go abroad to satisfy that occasional craving for a bit of greenery – Malta’s only consists of less than 500 hectares, not even one per cent of its total land area.

Next lowest in the rankings, although still streets ahead of Malta, is the Netherlands whose tree and forest cover accounts for “just” 11 per cent of its territory.

In six EU member states – Finland, Sweden, Slovenia, Latvia, Spain and Estonia – more than half the land is covered in woodland and forest. The greenest member state by far is Finland, with 77 per cent.

Luxembourg, which is the second smallest member state, although with a territory eight times Malta’s size, has tree cover of 34 per cent. Cyprus, another small member state but with a similar climate to Malta, has 42 per cent.