The President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society said today that it recognised the 'intrinsic link between access to green spaces and wellbeing'. It said it was vital that citizens were actively engaged and encouraged in the continuation of open space protection and preservation.

The statement was issued days before the Front Harsien ODZ is due to hold a public protest.

The Front is campaigning principally for the protection of Zonqor, which is earmarked for the building of a new university. It has also objected to a shooting range near Mount St Joseph retreat house. However no specific issue was mentioned in the foundation's statement.

The Foundation said it acknowledged that the impact of environment on individual and social wellbeing must be considered as a multifaceted and holistic phenomenon. Growing contemporary evidence supported the view that exposure and access to green spaces could have a wide range of social, economic, environmental and health benefits.

It said the President’s Secret Garden, a project facilitated by the foundation, was a direct response to consultation with families through the Foundation’s Fora, and the perceived lack of open spaces for children in Malta. This led to the provision of a safe and green space in San Anton Palace, and activities that promote healthful and empowering relationship-building among children. The Foundation recognizes the intrinsic link between access to green spaces and wellbeing.

"A balance must be found between development and the protection of natural (open space) resources. It is vital that citizens be actively engaged and encouraged in the continuation of open space protection and preservation. The Foundation encourages further work in fostering creative foresight, sustained will, and collaboration between civil society and other sectors, in order to ensure that open spaces will continue to play their essential role in the wellbeing of people in Malta and Gozo," it said.