I refer to the letter ‘Extending Miżieb’. For accuracy’s sake the planting, mainly of olive trees, on the Bajda Ridge (Miżieb) commenced in1957, as one of a number of sites covering an area of 90 hectares (800 tumoli) in Malta and 10 hectares (90 tumoli) in Gozo.

In 1964, additional supportive planting was successfully carried out in these olive groves, on the recommendation of Moshe Kholar, an Israeli forestry expert.

In subsequent years, tree planting projects in our islands have been undertaken by every administration. These included substantially large sites, such as the Marfa Ridge (L-Aħrax), ex-Ta’ Qali airfield, Delimara, the Cottonera lines, Manoel Island, Mtarfa, Dwejra Lines in Malta and It-Tafal cliff (Fort Chambray’s escarpment) in Gozo. In Comino, smaller sites were also planted in the early 1980s.

More details of these projects and their whereabouts can be lifted from my book The Public Gardens and Groves of the Maltese Islands.