An appeal for environmental respect has been made by the Church's Environmental Commission to churches and parishes which hold Holy Week celebrations.

In a statement, the commission referred to the tradition of distributing olive leaves to believers and the use of palm tree branches to decorate statues and said there was no need to make excessive use of these plants.

The olive was an indigenous plant of utmost ecological and economic importance and it needed several years to mature. It was also the source of olive oil.

Trees in Malta already had to face many environmental risks including a lack of water supply, over-development and soil loss and Holy Week celebrations should not add to these risks.

The cutting of whole trees to decorate Good Friday statues should be avoided as it did not reflect a Christian's respect to creation.

Trees for this aim should come from the remains of professionally pruned trees or should be trees planted in pots which could be reused year after year.